Artificial flower decorations at Spring Hill Cemetery on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s historic Spring Hill Cemetery has changed its policy regarding decorations on graves.
The Spring Hill Cemetery Commission voted Thursday to only allow decorations of natural flowers and wreaths made of natural materials.
The cemetery, located at 1555 Farnsworth Drive, contains the remains of many early settlers in the Kanawha Valley.
The decorations will be removed as they become “unsightly†or during mowing, according to the new policy. Under the previous policy, decorations placed on the ground were removed every 30 days or as the area was mowed. Decorations in containers or off the ground were removed when they became unsightly.
Larry Ford, cemetery superintendent, said almost all of the flowers people placed at the cemetery were fake.
“ Very rarely do families who come up here to decorate grave with [natural] flowers. It’s typically artificial flowers or other things like ... candy canes, Christmas trees, seasonal decorations,†he said.
Ford said the main issue with fake flowers, “aesthetics aside,†is the mess they make in the cemetery. Additionally, if maintenance workers hit the flowers with a line trimmer, “you have plastic shreds all over the place.â€
What other cemeteries allow
Ford prepared a document for the commission showing the rules of other local cemeteries:
Sunset Memorial Park, South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä: Anything is allowed. Artificial flowers are removed during mowing.
Tyler Mountain Memory Gardens, Cross Lanes: Any flowers except during mowing season when nothing is allowed. Flowers in vases are not removed.
Cunningham Memorial Park, St. Albans: Any flowers except during mowing season when nothing is allowed. Flowers in vases are not removed.
Floral Hills, Sissonville: Anything except during mowing season when nothing is allowed. Flowers in vases are not removed.
Mount Olivet, ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä: No policy
Grandview Memorial Park, Dunbar: Anything on the grass is removed during mowing season. Flowers in vases are not removed.
Before Mountain View Memorial Park was acquired by the City of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, no decorations were allowed. Now, the park follows the same rules as the adjacent Spring Hill Cemetery.
Commission member Alisa Bailey said staff doesn’t need to be pulling up artificial flowers right away.
“It is an evolutionary process,†she said. “We can explain why we’re doing it.â€
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