Topic: Suitable plants for a grave

[Tin Shed]

An unusual request maybe  - but my husband is renovating his grandparents/parent's grave and is looking for a evergreen ground cover type plant to cover the grave. It will need to be low maintenance as well.
I have suggested chamomile lawn or a thyme [I am sure that I have seen a very low growing type].
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[galina]

Maybe some heathers?

[gp.girl]

Most alpines are low maintainence. Mixing plants with bulbs might work to extend interest as well.


Is there a special time of year? 

[lottie lou]

They would have to be rabbit proof.  I don't think rabbits like daffs but what about something for summer.

[Tin Shed]

Thank you for your ideas - I hadn't thought of heathers or planting bulbs to come up at different times of the year.

[pigeonseed]

Heathers can have a really beautiful shape and get better with age.

And there's a low-growing rosemary as well, prostrate rosemary. That also has a lovely sideways-creeping shape, and is zero maintenance.

You don't seem to see weeds underneath heathers or rosemary. Do they exude something?

[Sinbad7]

Over the years I have planted snowdrops, crocus and daffs and they have started to all come up every year now.  I don't lift them each year  either, so it is lovely to see the first signs of spring there and they are zero maintenance.

[goodlife]

Some hebes are low growing and evergreen and goes lovely with any of the seasonal pot plants..used often as 'back cround' for other plants that will give the colour. Yes...I too like heathers on grave..

[ACE]

Now you know I am the 'chamomile king', low maintenance it ain't. Is it a kerb set, the type that is raised and surrounded with marble/granite or is it just plain ground that the maintenance team strim regardless of plants.

If it is surrounded you are best with some of those cheap little ivy plants you get in supermarkets with a few cyclamens to poke through now and again, wild strawberries also cover and make a good show, good for wildlife as well.

daffs need to flower and die which makes an an untidy grave when you should be trimming the grass to make it look good, primroses and crocus are the best for that as they are  finished when the mowing season starts.
Look up for something that will be in flower on an anniversary. I hope my grave will be covered in 'naked ladies'

[Tin Shed]

'Naked ladies' might be OK for you, Ace, but I am not sure that they would be suitable for my mother in law - although on occasions she did come out with the most unexpected things ;)
It is a kerb set and will have a flat memorial stone in the middle so the plants have to be very low growing. It is difficult to choose an anniversary as the grave is shared by five occupants and it could get complicated!

[ACE]

Send me a photo, and also the aspect regarding sun/shade, favorite plants of yours or the occupants, maintenance schedule etc. You know Yvonne, she will love this little challenge! We do owe you one, might even be more ;).My email should be in the pm dept if not I will send it to you.


A designer grave, now that would be a one off.

[lavenderlux]

The grave of my father and the grave of my grandparents are in country churchyards so we have encouraged wild flower on these.  The two churchyards are both rich in wild flowers and I collected seeds from some of these plants, raised new plants and planted them on the graves, (ox eye daisy, musk mallow, cowslips) plus added some snowdrops.  My great grandparents are buried in the same churchyard as my grandparents and I used to look after their grave in the same way - but then a second cousin appeared and announced he'd look after the gt's grave in future so he had all the plants removed and replaced with coloured glass chippings and planted with rockery plants.  It did look tidy at first, although not in keeping with the surroundings but he hasn't been back to maintain it and it now looks a mess as rank grasses have seeded into the area. So my view is that it depends on where the grave is, and a 'landscaped' grave may not be right in a country churchyard.

[ruud]

Maybe lilly of the valley is an good one,ground covering if you let him grow.Beautiful flowers in spring who smells also,my mother loved them.

[ipt8]

I think sedum would be very good, easy care, and draught tolerant. I would certainly have at least a few plants to try. It also grows easily from cuttings if you want to get more going. You also can get different colours if you wamt.

[Tin Shed]

Thanks, Ace - I think we may be taking you up on your offer, as Robert is concerned that I am involved the grave will all the plants planted in rows ;)
I will send him down to the cemetery with his camera. Last time we went he measured it and did a drawing of it!

[scruples]

I love snowdrops but was about to suggest chamomile before reading to the end of the your post. Lavender too and I like the idea of heather. I have heather on my plot and it is very colourful all year round.

The only thing I wouldn't be tempted to do is to plant any dwarf conifer as many are tempted to do. My grandparents' grave is nearly thirty years old and the grave behind it is about the same age but the relatives of that grave planted a small conifer behind the headstone. The result is that there is now an absolutely HUUGE conifer tree that totally obscures two the gravestones around it and has toppled one grave stone completely. My grandparents' grave stone is on the move too with the spreading of the roots. Not great. Whenever my parents visit, Dad ends up taking his shears and saw to cut back some of the branches. But really the tree needs to come out.

[daveyboi]

If only we could plant something like that but anything that grows gets strimmed in our local cemetery