Gravestone Damage Caused By Lawn Mowers
Spring is here and grass is growing in the cemetery. For the next several months, lawn mowing will be a much needed cemetery maintenance task. Proper mowing around gravestones takes greater care than a standard mowing job of a residential lawn. There are proper procedures to follow to avoid scoring gravemarkers, damaging flower urns, and scalping uneven ground over grave sites.
Lawn Mowing in a Cemetery
When I visit a cemetery and look at gravestones, my biggest pet peeve is seeing damaging work performed by careless workers.
One of the most notoriously damaging pieces of equipment in a cemetery is the riding lawn mower. Particularly, large Zero-Turn-Radius lawn mowers operated by neglectful lawn mower operators cause extensive damage. In cemeteries during lawn mowing season, lawn mower operators are often in a big hurry to finish their mowing jobs. They speed between headstones and zoom up & down rows of grave markers. Their rubber tires grind the ground and their large mowing decks scalp the earth. More damaging than what they do to the ground, however, is the damaging effect they have on gravestones.
Here are two examples of damage caused by lawn mowers. In both of these instances, gravestone material has been scraped away by mower decks. In the third picture, I have reason to believe the monument might have been toppled after being run into, repeatedly, by a neglectful lawn care operator.
If you plan to offer grass cutting in your grave care business, please make the effort to choose proper equipment. Also, operate that equipment properly to avoid damaging tombstones and the graves you are supposed to be manicuring.
Proper Cemetery Maintenance Procedures
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Please let us know if you have any questions. We are passionate about cemeteries and are always happy to help.
I am glad you mentioned that there are proper maintenance procedures to follow for maintaining custom headstones. My grandma has a drawing of our dog on her headstone. Thank you for the information on preventing damage to gravestones.
I like what you said about making sure that your lawnmower’s tires don’t hit any gravestones. My brother has been telling me about how he wants to get a new headstone for our dad soon. I’ll share this information with him so that he knows how to keep it in good condition.