ASHLAND — The absence of bushes has made the news.
The superintendent of the Ashland Cemetery removed hedges from the centuries-old cemetery recently, and some residents are curious as to why.
“Why did the Ashland Cemetery remove the bushes at the entrance of the cemetery?” a reader wondered on Ashland Source’s Open Source platform.
Tom Rupple, the cemetery’s full-time superintendent, said the bushes — he didn’t know what kind of shrubs they were — were around 70 or 80 years-old. Over the years, they had grown tall and wide, to the point where the driveway had narrowed.
“They were overgrown, and it was high maintenance. So I took them all out,” Rupple said.
Taking out the bushes made the driveway’s width grow by 2.5 feet, Rupple said.
At some point, the five-member board that oversees the cemetery’s operations, will replace the bushes with arborvitaes. Rupple said the evergreen ornamental trees will grow to be around 20 feet tall.
“Over the years, they’ll make a tunnel going through (the main entrance). And they don’t require maintenance, except for watering them for two years and that’s it. We’ll just keep track of the weeds at the base,” he said.
The Ashland Cemetery Association established in 1856, Rupple said. There are roughly 17,000 gravesites on the grounds’ 74 acres, all within city limits.
“We don’t get taxes or anything from the city,” he said. “We’re a cemetery … we only have one thing to sell. So we pay for this place with one thing. It keeps us busy.”
Rupple is one of two full-time groundsmen. The cemetery employs seasonal workers during the summer.