Planting guidelines and mowing information

Because Greensprings is managed as a natural preserve, it is crucial that all planting activity matches the different ecosystems that we maintain across our landscape. The plants on the Ecological Advisory Committee's approved planting list (right) have been selected because they are native species, provide excellent and diverse wildlife food and habitat, and because they can survive (and even benefit from) the process of mowing. If we didn't mow our meadow habitats regularly, these grasslands would begin the process of becoming forest, and would no longer provide valuable habitat to grassland birds and other wildlife. It's important to understand that your entire plot will be mowed as part of our meadow ecosystem management plan.

Coneflower

Coneflower

If you choose to plant on a gravesite we ask that you limit plantings to the grave mound itself. Often, plantings directly on top of a grave mound are not mowed every year due to the difficulty in mowing over high earth mounds. To further protect young memorial plantings from mowing (especially while root systems are getting established) you can place landscape poles at the four corners of the grave. Landscape poles can be found next to the rain barrel at the West Meadow Cottage. All areas of our burial meadows must be mowed periodically or else woody plants will quickly become established and our meadow habitat will be unsuitable for the species we're trying to help.

Greensprings mows burial areas once per year, including directly over settled gravesites (the remaining meadows are mowed every 3 years according to our nature preserve management plan). Mowing work is generally performed after the last plants have flowered in mid to late September or October. If you want to protect recent commemorative plantings please place poles (available at the front of the cottage) around the planting site by mid-September. Do not place stones on or around graves--they can break the mower.

Wait for the soil to settle at the grave site before planting; several months is preferable. Plants are most likely to survive if planted in fall, avoiding the summer heat within the first weeks of planting. Non-native plants will be removed. Please see our Rules and Regulations.

We know it can sometimes be jarring to see a memorial planting chopped down to a few inches above the ground, but this temporarily distressing process is simply the first stage of preparing your natural gravesite for the next year's regrowth and regeneration.

Plantings need proper planting, timely watering, and monitoring to survive. If your plants fail, you may wish to consult a native plants expert.

LOCAL NATIVE PLANTS EXPERTs and Nurseries

Dan Segal

The Plantsmen Nursery, 482 Peruville Rd, Groton, NY 13073 | 607-533-7193 | plantsmen.com

Dan has served on Greensprings’ Ecological Advisory Committee, and his recommendations are incorporated in our commemorative plants list.

Deanna English

Grow Wild! Native Plant Nursery, 245 Speed Hill Rd. Brooktondale, NY 14817 I 314-749-2882 I growwildnatives.com

Memorial Tree & Shrub Plantings

We don’t allow the planting of trees or shrubs in most burial areas because the roots can extend into empty neighboring lots. An exception is the Sequential Burial Area in the West Meadow where graves are filled in sequence and the root growth will not be an issue. The Board of Trustees, with guidance from the Ecological Advisory Committee, has approved this list of native trees and shrubs for planting in the Sequential Burial Area. Please reach out to Greensprings staff for more information about our planting guidelines for this section.

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Perennials, Herbaceous

  • anise hyssop

  • swamp milkweed

  • common milkweed

  • white wood aster

  • bigleaf aster

  • turtlehead

  • black cohosh

  • white snake root

  • joe-pye

  • boneset

  • sneezeweed

  • false sunflower

  • blueflag iris

  • cardinal flower

  • blue lobelia

  • Oswego tea

  • wild bergamot

  • sundrops

  • creeping phlox, moss phlox

  • mountain mint

  • cutleaf coneflower

  • senna

  • meadow rue

  • blue vervain

  • Culver's root

  • violet

  • golden alexanders

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Grasses, Rushes, & Sedges

  • big bluestem

  • tufted hairgrass

  • Canada wildrye

  • bottlebrush grass

  • Virginia wildrye

  • sweet grass

  • soft rush

  • switchgrass

  • little bluestem

  • indian grass

Ferns

  • cinnamon fern

  • Christmas fern

  • sensitive fern

  • wood fern

Vines & Ground Covers

  • virgin's bower