Maintenance Regime Seasonal Cuttings

The Anglican and General Cemetery Trusts carry out a maintenance regime in accordance with the governing structures that covers Rookwood Cemetery, incorporating the Threatened Species Conservation Act that also covers our cemetery. Unfortunately the government controls the Trust prices for graves and until 1989 the Trust did not sell graves at a price that allowed for future maintenance.  The families were responsible for the grave care as well as the monument because there were no additional charges at the time of the grave purchase to allow for future maintenance of these old graves.  We now know this was not practical, as time passed people no longer visited their family’s grave in many circumstances. 

The Trust does endeavour to keep the older areas looking presentable and accessible but we have been restricted by the growth patterns of indigenous species. These patterns allow the native and introduced bulbs, sedges, orchids and native grasses to flower and set seed, thus ensuring survival of the plant communities at Rookwood.
 

This also provides a food source for native fauna.  In allowing this to happen we are reducing evaporation through shading the ground and reduce the movement and erosion of the clay soils, which push against the monuments through expansion and contraction of the clay due to changes in moisture content. In particular the kangaroo grass does produce a tall flower/seed stalk and unfortunately seeds best from September to December to mature before it can be cut down.  So the older sections of the cemetery are covered with seed stalks of these plants for 16 weeks of the year from September to December.  With this in mind some older areas are now cut 2 – 3 times a year and others 5 –  6 times a year.  This is twice the number of cuts carried out 6 years ago.