Wiesbaden. 72 small wooden fringed beds line the cemetery in Wiesbaden-Biebrich. Planting is repeated every fourth row, sometimes red blooms grow in boxes, sometimes perennials or ground cover. “One of the things we’re testing here is which plants can survive with less water in times of climate change,” explains Matthew Lynch, owner of the cemetery nursery.

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He oversaw a joint pilot project with his colleague Stefan Grob, both of which were supported by students from Geisenheim University in Rheingau. The key question is how can a cemetery look good without a lot of watering, explains Grob. Lynch added that field trials will also be used to test how burial plants thrive on peat-free soil. Meanwhile, some customers specifically requested this eco-friendly variant.

Among other things, begonias, sedums and heat-resistant varieties of Christ thorn that require little water are grown in boxes. The 72 squares are cast according to a strict scheme, as Lynch describes. The first four rows get the previous normal amount of ten liters of water with each watering. Four identically planted rows of the second part get five liters and the third sector is not watered. Gardeners assess the condition of the plants once a month, and the project is scheduled to run for three years. At the same time, the temperature and the amount of precipitation were measured in the test field.

“We are very interested in the yield of ground cover crops,” says Christina Freitag. The landscape architect is responsible for the green maintenance of the city cemetery of Wiesbaden. It is difficult to find suitable plants to cope with drought, especially in grave areas under trees, such as urn graves. Cranesbill, for example, doesn’t work. The city provides room for experimentation.

In addition to their function as a place of mourning, cemeteries have developed into important green oases in many places, says art historian Dirk Pörschmann, head of the Museum of Cemetery Culture in Kassel. They are often several hectares in size and thus offer a resting place for a wide variety of animal and plant species. Many funeral administrations are aware of this, and intensive thought is given to natural plantings. There are also insect hotels, for example, and grass is mowed less often to create flowering areas, explains Pörschmann.

Especially in cities, family members are now open to natural grave designs. This can be seen, for example, in the selection of native plants. There’s also a trend toward sustainability when it comes to headstones, says Pörschmann. In Europe there are quite a lot of stone alternatives originating from India, for example with long transportation routes.

No more green grass

“Climate change doesn’t stop at the graveyard,” said Michael Albrecht of the Association of Cemetery Administrators. The classic graveyard planting sometimes suffers greatly from the heat and drought, the lush green lawns all summer long are a thing of the past. In his own words, Albrecht has observed a shift in consciousness over the years, that graves are seen as resting places for nature – and therefore can also be “custodians of creation”. dpa