Maintenance and Lot Decorations
Tillsonburg Cemetery is owned and operated by the Town of Tillsonburg, in accordance with consolidated By-law 2021-058. Cemetery staff strive to maintain the cemetery grounds in a way that offers respect and dignity for all.
Maintenance Services
- Opening/closing of burial sites
- Seeding/sodding and grass cutting
- Setting of markers and headstones
- Repair of foundations
To preserve the appearance of the cemetery, the Town reserves the right to regulate flower beds, shrubs, and articles placed on lots or plots, including anything deemed unmaintained, unsightly, overgrown, neglected, abandoned, or hazardous to visitors or staff. These items will be removed and disposed of without notice.
Decorations
Decoration Day is held on the third Sunday in August, however decorations are allowed at other times of the year.
Please keep the following guidelines in mind when selecting floral and memorial tributes. For full details on cemetery lot decorations, refer to consolidated By-law 2021-058.
- Monument saddles are preferred.
- Approval is required from the Cemetery Supervisor prior to installation of any flower beds, trees and shrubs.
- Candles, incense, flammable articles, glass, and breakable containers are not permitted in the cemetery.
- Flowers placed on a grave will be removed after a reasonable time to maintain a tidy appearance.
- Summer decorations are permitted May 1 – October 31. Potted plants, wreaths, and flower arrangements may be securely placed on top of the ground close to the monument. Perennial flowers and shrubs must be attended to by June 1. Annual flowers must be removed by November 1.
- Winter decorations are permitted from November 1 to March 31. Wreaths and saddles should be fastened to the monument or mounted on a separate stand anchored to the ground.
- Seasonal decorations remaining beyond the dates above will be considered abandoned and will be removed and disposed of.
- A flower bed should not be created if it is unable to be maintained.
- Flower beds may extend up to 20 inches from the monument base and cannot extend further than the width of the monument base. Flower beds are only allowed in front of the monument. Flower bed borders must be approved by the Cemetery Supervisor.
- Solar lights and free-standing articles are only permitted within a flower bed.
- Flower beds, solar lights, freestanding articles and in-ground plants are not permitted on flat marker grave sites.
- New bushes, shrubs and trees are not permitted in the cemetery unless approved by the Cemetery Supervisor and maintained accordingly.
- Flower beds may be removed if they impede a regular interment
- The Cemetery Supervisor reserves the right to remove all natural or artificial arrangements, wreaths, potted plants, or saddles when they become withered, unsightly, or when deemed to be in the best interest of the cemetery.
- Glass or other breakable items (i.e. statuary) are not allowed around the columbarium
- Bud vases approved by the Tillsonburg Cemetery and attached to the niche will be allowed throughout the year
- Other floral tributes are permitted only at the time of interment and on Decoration Day; flowers that are likely to stain or deface the structure will be removed
- No ornaments of any kind are allowed on or near the niches
- No ornaments of any kind are allowed on the bud vases