Memorial Plantings

Introduction
When a member of our community dies, there is sometimes a desire to plant a tree or shrub on the meeting grounds to remind us of the role that person played in our lives.  The following policies are designed to establish clear procedures for such plantings.

Policies
1.  Who is eligible for a memorial planting?  Anyone for whom we write a memorial minute is eligible for having a memorial tree or shrub.  In its discussions with the family, Overseers will provide information about our policies for such plantings. The Meeting may want to act on its own initiative in some cases.

2.  Who pays?  In general, the family should pay.  In cases of financial hardship, the meeting may assist in the cost, either through the budget (up to $50), or through the discreet solicitation of contributions.

3.  Who plants and maintains the memorial?  If the family desired, they could plant the memorial in their own ceremony.  Otherwise, this could be part of spring workday, or a special meeting event.  Trees planted around the burial ground would need to be protected from sheep.  Maintenance will be the responsibility of the plantings warden (see below).

4.  Only memorial trees?  To ensure enough sites for memorial trees, we recommend that no other trees be planted.

5.  Who chooses the site?  The plantings warden, in consultation with the Grounds Committee, will take into account the landscaping needs of the meeting to suggest a site.  There will be no effort made to correlate the ``weightiness'' of the Friend being memorialized with the location.

6.  Who chooses the tree?  The family will be provided with a list of trees consistent with the landscaping at Mt. Toby from which they can choose.  Otherwise, the plantings warden, in consultation with other interested parties, will make the choice.

7.  Who administers this policy?  Overseers will have general responsibility for ensuring the functioning of memorial plantings as part of their overall care when a member dies.  The details of the policy will be the responsibilities of the plantings warden, detailed in the next section.

Plantings Warden
To maintain the trees and shrubs on the meeting grounds, to facilitate memorial plantings, and to oversee the general landscaping plans for the grounds, we establish the position of plantings warden.  This position will be filled through our usual nominating process.

Responsibilities:
1.  To oversee the general health of the trees and shrubs on the meeting grounds, arranging for pruning, watering, pest control, or removal as needed.
2.  To coordinate the selection of species for, and location of, the planting of memorial trees and shrubs.  As part of this role, the warden will maintain a list of trees and shrubs acceptable as memorial plantings at different sites. 
3.  To maintain an up-to-date map of the trees and shrubs on the meeting grounds, indicating any memorial plantings and the names of those being memorialized.  This map will be permanently displayed at the meetinghouse.
4.   To coordinate the long-term landscaping plan for the meeting grounds, reporting to meeting for business for its consideration any substantial proposed 
changes/additions to this plan.
6.   It is expected that the plantings warden will work closely with the Grounds Committee to maintain the overall attractiveness of the meeting grounds, and with Overseers to facilitate memorial plantings.  It is also expected that the warden will consult regularly with other members of the meeting community who have strong interests in landscaping questions.

Plan
1.  Where to plant:  There are four main areas to look at: 
a.  Near and in the burial ground.  We recommend planting several clusters of trees just outside the burial ground, together with a scattering of three or four trees inside the burial ground to break up the rectangular feel of the space.  Note: this would require an explicit change in existing policy, since meeting has minuted that there be no plantings inside the burial grounds.  We feel that the grave sites are large enough that trees can be accommodated, particularly if a number of Friends continue to choose cremation.
b.  South of the meetinghouse.  It was proposed in 1999 that we plant 3 or 4 large trees south of the meetinghouse to provide a larger area of shade out there.  These would be deciduous trees that would be pruned up as they grew so people could still see the hills beyond them.  We may eventually want to plant some shrubs in this area to provide enclosed spaces where people could sit.
c.  Replacement trees.  Several of our current trees -- the yellowwood out in the play area and the limber pine in the front oval -- are  dying and will probably need to be replaced soon.  They could be cut down at any time.
d.	North of the Champney Room. There are some rough plans to create, through the careful planting of shrubs and hedges, a more enclosed space here.  This space would be equipped with benches (which might themselves be memorials).

2.  What to plant: Mt. Toby sits on somewhat difficult soil -- rocky, very well-drained, and quite exposed to wind -- which makes it inappropriate for a number of trees and shrubs people might be inclined to plant.  The meeting will maintain a list of trees appropriate for the different sites.  For instance, some trees that would work well on our land would be most oaks, sugar maples, lacebark elm, ginkgo, sweetgum, Amur Maackia, hickories, baldcypress, Zelkova, various pines (White, Scotch, pitch, Japanese white, Austrian), European and Japanese larches.

Except as noted in parts b. and d. above, most of the plantings in the immediate future are likely to be trees.  Shrubs tend to have a much higher maintenance cost in terms of pruning and mowing than do trees, and we should be cautious about planting them.  

The Ad Hoc Memorial Tree Committee
Shirley Conant, Ken Hoffman, Pam Rooney
6/11/2000