5 Common Cemetery Problems

1. Weeds

Weeds often grow out of control, and overwhelm most, if not all of a cemetery. Weeds ruin healthy grass by taking nutrients away from it and turning the grass around a grave brown or killing it entirely. However, getting rid of these unwanted weeds is not as easy as simply spraying a weed killer. The chemicals present in the weed killer could potentially damage any headstones and grave markers that are near the weeds.

2. Basic Cemetery Responsibilities

Cemeteries offer a wide range of services, of which grounds and building maintenance is their top priority. Cemeteries are large and expansive pieces of land. The world’s largest cemetery spans 2.32 square miles! Its not hard to imagine that the large size of your average cemetery makes it hard for the maintenance staff to properly and thoroughly tend to each and every individual grave site. They make it their priority to maintain the grounds and cemetery buildings as a whole first, so as to allow families cleared paths to their loved ones’ graves. Only after completing these services do they move on to working on individual grave sites based on the urgency of care required.

3. Weather

Harsh weather, such as rain, snow or sleet, makes it hard to properly tend to cemeteries. After such weather, the soil in cemeteries often becomes waterlogged, and completely flooded. This drowns the grass and creates the formation of layers on the surfaces of headstones. At the other end of the spectrum, drought also suffocates the soil and grass in cemeteries, drying out all of the plants and cracking the earth.

4. Time

Not everyone has the time to visit a loved one’s grave to give it the proper care and maintenance it requires. Sometimes, families move away from their childhood homes and the cities their loved one’s are buried in, and are unable to travel back and forth regularly to tend to or to place flowers on the grave.

5. Aging Grave Markers and Headstones

Over the years, headstones and other grave markers can gather dirt, stains and biological growths from weather, or even simply age. These appear on headstones in the form of colored patches and can be harmful for headstones because they trap moisture on, and under the surface of the stone. These growths might also secrete acids that are corrosive to the stone, causing it to crack. A cracked stone is often to fragile to clean, and the cracks become a permanent part of the headstone. To prevent this, headstones and grave markers need to be gently cleaned regularly.