Forest Lawn Cemetery

Graveyards can also be places of horticultural beauty and signs of ongoing life, especially when they have an extensive collection of trees like Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk.Located on Granby Street near Wards Corner, the 165-acre cemetery is a natural arboretum that includes more than 70 species of trees, including commonly known dogwood and crape myrtle to rarely seen longleaf pine and evodia. The trees, some dating back to the cemetery’s beginnings in 1906, shade thousands of headstones that are an intricate and interesting in shape and size as the tall trunks and twisting branches of the stately oaks and maples.On some Mondays, Norfolk’s Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners are in the cemetery, measuring trees for possible inclusion in their ongoing Significant Trees of Norfolk database.The website maintains an inventory of noteworthy trees, including size, rarity, historical importance, fascinating heritage and unusual shape.So far, Master Gardeners have measured 466 trees in Norfolk, and have posted details, including general location and GPS coordinates, on 165 of them. They have searched for significant trees in all but two of 12 city and private cemeteries, two of 10 libraries with trees, 36 of 92 parks with trees, three of 29 recreation centers and 17 of 47 public schools.“Each time we go out, I enjoy the challenges of identification and the continued chance to learn and observe more about the trees in our city,” says Paul “Ziggy” Ziegler, who coordinates the Significant Trees program along with Mary Jo “Joey” Rothgery,“We look forward to access to more private property trees as residents and private organizations become more familiar with our program.”Forest Lawn used to host tree tours given by city horticulturist Malinda Potier, who has since retired. Future hopes include occasional tours again at the city’s cemeteries, plus “tree trails” for self-guided tours of notable trees with signs and a QR code that allows a smart phone to provide immed... (Virginian-Pilot)

YOUNGSTOWNForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, 5400 Market St., governed by the Mill Creek Memorial Park Association, hosted its annual lot owner and trustee meeting Aug. 25. Trustees elected were Thomas Masters, president; Jane Morris, vice president; Chris Engartner, treasurer; and Robert G. Mayer, secretary. Other trustees are Alfred Davison, Doris Vanden-Bosch, Judy Economus, Robert Eizonas, Paul Brock and Paul Purins. (Youngstown Vindicator)