Editing Cemetery (section)

===Lawn cemetery===
In a review of British burial and death practises, Julie Rugg wrote that there were "four closely interlinked factors that explain the 'invention' and widespread adoption of the lawn cemetery: the deterioration of the Victorian cemetery; a self-conscious rejection of Victorian aesthetics in favour of modern alternatives; resource difficulties that, particularly after World War II, increasingly constrained what might be achieved in terms of cemetery maintenance; and growing professionalism in the field of cemetery management."<ref name="Rugg2006">{{cite journal|last1=Rugg|first1=Julie|title=Lawn cemeteries: the emergence of a new landscape of death|journal=Urban History|volume=33|issue=2|year=2006|pages=213–233|issn=0963-9268|doi=10.1017/S0963926806003786|s2cid=145306627}}</ref>

Typically, lawn cemeteries comprise a number of graves in a lawn setting with trees and gardens on the perimeter. [[Adolph Strauch]] introduced this style in 1855 in [[Cincinnati]].<ref>
{{cite book| last = Sears| first = John F.| title = Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zr_D9wJtULQC| access-date = 2013-07-25| year = 1989| publisher = University of Massachusetts Press| isbn = 978-1558491625| pages = 117–118| quote = First introduced in 1855 by Adolph Strauch, superintendent of the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, the park or lawn cemetery featured open, uncluttered expanses of lawn rather than the uneven, wooded, picturesque scenery of the rural cemetery. [...] By the final decades of the nineteenth century, the park cemetery would become the dominant form of American burial ground.}}</ref>
While aesthetic appeal to family members has been the primary driver for the development of lawn cemeteries, cemetery authorities initially welcomed this new style of cemetery enthusiastically, expecting easier maintenance. Selecting (or grading) the land intended for a lawn cemetery so that it is completely flat allows the use of large efficient [[mower]]s (such as ride-on mowers or lawn tractors) - the plaques (being horizontally set in the ground) lie below the level of the blades and are not damaged by the blades. In practice, while families are often initially attracted to the uncluttered appearance of a lawn cemetery, the common practice of placing [[flower]]s (sometimes in [[vase]]s) and increasingly other items (e.g. small [[toy]]s on children's graves) re-introduces some clutter to the cemetery and makes it difficult to use the larger [[mower]]s. While cemetery authorities increasingly impose restrictions on the nature and type of objects that can be placed on lawn graves and actively remove prohibited items, grieving families are often unwilling to comply with these restrictions and become very upset if the items are removed. Another problem with lawn cemeteries involves grass over-growth over time: the [[grass]] can grow over and cover the plaque, to the distress of families who can no longer easily locate the grave. Grasses that propagate by an above-ground [[stolon]] (runner) can cover a plaque very quickly. Grasses that propagate by a below-ground [[rhizome]] tend not to cover the plaque as easily.

[[File:CalvaryCemeteryQueens edit.jpg|thumb|[[Calvary Cemetery (Queens, New York)|Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York]]]]
[[File:Near Cernavodă, cemetery, Danube (2).jpg|thumb|Overgrown cemetery overlooking the [[Danube]], Romania]]

==== Lawn beam ====
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The lawn beam cemetery, a recent development, seeks to solve the problems of the lawn cemetery while retaining many of its benefits. Low (10–15&nbsp;cm) raised [[concrete]] slabs (beams) are placed across the cemetery. [[Commemorative plaques]] (usually standardised in terms of size and materials similar to lawn cemeteries) stand on these beams adjacent to each grave. As in a lawn cemetery, [[grass]] grows over the graves themselves. The areas between the beams are wide enough to permit easy mowing with a larger mower. As the mower blades are set lower than the top of the beam and the mowers do not go over the beam, the blades cannot damage the plaques. Up on the beam, the plaques cannot be easily overgrown by grass, and spaces between the plaques permit families to place flowers and other objects out of reach of the mowing.