Mowing Grass at the Cemetery

How do they mow the grass at cemeteries?

How many mowers do they need per acre? What kind of mowers do they have, how much variety? Do they have riding lawnmowers, push lawnmowers? They probably have edgers, I’m guessing. How many?How do they maneuver around tombstones? What about those flat tombstones that are level with the ground? Do they mow over those tombstones, or is that a sacrilegious act?

How long does it take to mow a cemetery? How many people does it take? How does one even calculate that? Acreage plus complexity of the monument placement/arrangement?

Let’s take Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, IL. I’d say it’s on the larger side of cemeteries. Abraham Lincoln is buried there. I have family there, too.

Springfield is in the middle of the flat Midwestern prairie, but the cemetery itself is full of mini-peaks and valleys. How much of a pain is it to mow the rolling hills of this very, very old cemetery?

I’m tempted to call and ask, but I feel like the likelihood of getting an answer is probably slim.

Cemeteries are sacred to a lot of people, especially those with loved ones resting there. Any clumsy investigation into the very mundane act of landscaping might be seen as borderline offensive to some.

The logistics of it is fascinating to me. Maybe I’ll call tomorrow. Maybe.

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