TAVARES, FL (352today.com) – When visiting a cemetery, the stereotypical scene is a somber one: stark gravestones adorn the barren ground, with not a speck of color in sight.
But when people actually visit their loved ones’ graves, they hope for peace, comfort and tranquility – not sterility. University of Florida experts partnered with a Central Florida city to bring the solace of nature to a local cemetery by helping it transform into the state’s first cemetery accredited as an arboretum.
UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension worked with the City of Tavares to earn arboretum accreditation for the city’s cemetery through ArbNet, a distinction held by about 2,600 arboretums worldwide.
Arborists also helped the city plant new trees, and now the main entrance of the cemetery is lined with young live oaks, ready to grow and shade generations of visitors as they come to the cemetery, seeking to grieve and remember their loved ones.
Jamie Daugherty, UF/IFAS Extension agent who worked on the accreditation process, said trees and nature have long been part of cemeteries’ history, but it’s been a forgotten part in the past 100 years. In the 19th century, cemeteries were among the first public parks.
“It used to be, as we started to urbanize, the largest green spaces that people could go visit were cemeteries, so that would be where people would go take their kids to run around, they would go have picnics, they would visit their loved ones,” she said. “And what we know more recently about the importance of green spaces in urban environments is they really help us connect with nature. They help to reduce different health impacts like high blood pressure, so having a tree near your loved one’s grave can bring a calming influence while you’re also visiting your loved one.”
She said that proximity and connection to nature can help with mental health, as well, during a traumatic time of loss.
“Nature can play a really large role in the grieving process,” she said. “I know that for my mother, when she experienced loss, dragonflies were really important. I have friends that for whom cardinals have been very important to them. And both of those are going to be able to live in a location like this, and people can feel like they are getting visited by their family members.”
The cemetery, renamed the Tavares Cemetery and Arboretum, offers tree species like Sabal palm, sycamore, olive, Florida flame maple, desert cassia, magnolia, St. Luke’s plum, loquat and blueberry bushes.
To become accredited, one of the requirements is a labeled collection of at least 25 species or taxa of trees and woody plants. UF/IFAS Extension Lake County and city of Tavares arborists evaluated the current trees at the cemetery and helped the city make a management plan for each species of tree, and they also made labels with QR codes that link to resources that describe the tree. The cemetery currently has about 30 labeled species of trees and shrubs and is working toward reaching 100 in the next few years, said Traci Anderson, Tavares parks operations manager.
She said UF’s involvement was essential to the public education element of the accreditation process, as well as educating their staff during the planting and management process. Other ways the city and UF have gotten local public involved have been educational tree-planting events at the cemetery.
“They’re helping us reach the public on a daily basis, and we hope to complement each other,” she said. “It’s a commitment to our community. It’s a commitment to the environment and to education.”
One challenge that comes with being an arboretum is long-term planning over multiple generations. Trees like live oaks and olive trees can live for 500 years, while other trees like laurel oaks live about 50 years.
The process of becoming an arboreum took the city of Tavares about six years, and Anderson said the cemetery is looking at adding more long-lived species as it work toward reaching Level 2 arboreum status, which requires 100 or more species and additional public and educational resources.