The Woodlands
Grave Gardeners
The Grave Gardener program is a volunteer gardening group run by The Woodlands. Individual gardeners adopt a cradle grave, which they plant with Victorian-era plants and care for throughout the gardening season. As a site with many layers—The Woodlands was once the 18th century estate of amateur botanist and plant collector William Hamilton and was converted into a rural cemetery in 1840—we are always looking for interesting ways to engage visitors with the rich history of the site. Re-planting our Victorian cradle graves is the perfect way to beautify the space and share a unique aspect of The Woodlands’ history.
WHO ARE THE GRAVE GARDENERS?
The Grave Gardeners are a group of more than 150 volunteer gardeners at The Woodlands Cemetery in West Philadelphia. Each Gardener adopts a cradle grave that they attend to throughout the growing season. Most of the gardeners live or work in our community, but we also have gardeners from all over the Philadelphia area. The skill levels of the Grave Gardeners range from people who are brand new to gardening and getting their hands in the dirt for the first time, to seasoned master gardeners.
WHAT IS A CRADLE GRAVE?
Cradle Graves were popular in the Victorian era. An excerpt from a guidebook to Philadelphia from the 1850s specifically mentions cradle graves, referring to them as "tombs in the French style." Most would have been planted and maintained by the family of the deceased, but over the last several decades they have come to sit flowerless. When The Woodlands was established in 1840, it was very common for people to maintain little gardens in their family cemetery plots and to spend time there on the weekends enjoying peaceful green space outside of the city. The Woodlands Grave Gardeners are reintroducing this practice by pairing volunteer gardeners with flowerless graves.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get involved?
We accept applications for each season beginning in January. While we try to include as many gardeners as possible, we work to keep the program manageable for our small staff and accommodate our Gardeners during the initial workshops. We love what a passionate response this program generates and we try to include as many volunteer gardeners as we can.
How do you select which plants to grow?
Gardening in a cradle grave is essentially container gardening. Our planting list, crafted and curated by an heirloom plant expert, includes varietals that would have been common in this area in the Victorian era and is full of perennials, annuals, roses, bulbs, and ferns. Using period-appropriate heirloom flowers and plants is fundamental to the program.
Who runs the Grave Gardener program?
The program is coordinated and managed by the staff of The Woodlands. Since we’ve had such a positive response to the program—with over 150 participants this year—we hope to grow our capacity so that we can continue to grow the program. It costs The Woodlands approximately $15,000 annually to purchase supplies and manage the program.
