Winter 2026 Cemetery Services Newsletter

Starting in the fall, the greenhouse and nursery team moves leftover potted perennials and trees into the protected environments of the greenhouse and hoophouses, where they wait out the colder months. Late fall into winter is also a great time to deep-clean the greenhouse in preparation for the growing season to come. All winter long, but especially in the lead up to the holidays, we arrange bouquets using dried flowers and evergreens grown on-site. These tributes are available through our annual online store and on a walk-in basis at the greenhouse.

The Gardens & Landscapes Team has a number of projects that we work on throughout the winter. In December, our team works with the Greenhouse team to place all the Winter Tributes at graves across the grounds. As we move into January, the smaller year-round team focuses mostly on shrub pruning and snow removal. This is the best time to prune most shrubs across the landscape. We prune the shrubs first by removing any dead, damaged, or diseased branches and then make some final cuts to manage their overall shape and look. With snow removal, every storm is different and requires a slightly different approach, but our commitment is to make sure main paths are safe for visitors. If we are unable to make a path safe for walking, we may need to close it until the ice melts or we are able to appropriately clear it and we will open it as soon as we are able to.