Cemetery Clean Up

I am one of those weird southerners who loves an old cemetery. Maybe it's because I'm from Richmond, VA with the famous Hollywood Cemetery named for all the holly trees. If you've never been, it's absolutely worth a visit with its elaborate mausoleums, beautiful monuments, and fantastic view of the James River.

Robertson headstone in the Slate Hill Baptist Cemetery

I started cemetery clean up as soon as I purchased the property in 2024. It's been a process. First I tried to cut back all the overgrown weeds. A critter dug a burrow underneath a historic stacked stone wall surrounding 2 graves. I had to scare the critter away and fill in the hole with gravel.

In spring 2025 I began to work on the main flower bed. I was making great progress until got poison ivy. I came back the next week to find out poison ivy was starting to sprout in the flower bed I had previously cleaned. I still haven't been brave enough to dig out the remaining poison ivy. When it finally stops raining everyday, I'll have to suit up and pull out as much poison ivy as I can.

Still to come in the cemetery clean up is:

• planting in the main flower bed

• planting more flowing shrubs around the border

• repair of broken headstones

• repair of the stacked stone wall

• building some arbors at entrances

A quick time lapse of me cleaning up the stacked stone enclosure: https://youtu.be/Q_MhhkfIOfo