There are things that make or design yourself are really worthwhile. This is the case with many decorative items, which can only be truly individual if they are made in-house. This is the case to a greater extent with grave decorations, which should not only be individual in order to stand out positively from the purchased grave decorations, but which should also decorate a grave with a very specific idea in mind: a deceased person should be remembered here, a human being with their own views and presentations. Only grave decorations designed by yourself can be based on the preferences of the person who is to be commemorated here. There is a lot of love in a self-made grave decoration, and with a self-designed grave decoration you can commemorate the deceased for longer, not only when you decorate the arrangement on the grave, but also during the production process.
Every grave decoration needs a foundation
If you are now mentally assembling the ingredients of the arrangements that will soon decorate the grave, that is wonderful, but sometimes premature. If you know that you will find a grave with sparse vegetation in the cemetery, you should first think about the ground cover with which you can plant the grave. Because these ground cover plants are exactly the basis you need for any grave decoration you create yourself, and they also make a grave site look attractive if you are unable to work for a longer period of time.
The ground cover you choose should be evergreen, frost hardy and robust. Here is a range of ground cover plants that meet all of these requirements:
- Ysander (fat man) grows into a dense green carpet that is unshakable and frost-hardy, but because of its slow growth it should be planted quite densely (up to 20 plants per square meter).
- Ivy is available in winter-hardy varieties (“Lake Balaton”, for example), which have proven themselves as robust ground cover. Because of their strong growth, you should not plant more than five plants per square meter.
- Hazelroot has been unfairly forgotten, the native wild perennial has beautiful, shiny, dark leaves, it should be planted densely (around 20 perennials per square meter) and is not suitable for locations that are illuminated by the winter sun all day.
- Waldsteinia (Carpet Golden Strawberry) grows very densely quickly if you start with at least 10 plants per square meter, it likes to grow in shady places.
- The foam blossom is your plant if there are already bushes on the grave and you are looking for a planting under it, it thrives splendidly in such an environment.
- The evergreen creeping spindle adorns large areas with its colorful leaves from green-white to pink, but is otherwise undemanding and hardy.
- The small-leaved periwinkle takes over grave decoration alone in early summer with its white or blue flowers, grows in almost any location and on almost any soil.
- The yellow elf flower is the only elf flower suitable as a ground cover; with its dense and tough root system, it is probably the best weed deterrent among the ground cover plants.
- Spotted lungwort also develops beautiful pink flowers from April to May and looks very decorative with its white spotted foliage the rest of the year.
- The Balkan cranesbill is vigorous, long-lived and robust, impresses with pink to purple flowers in early summer and also shows decorative autumn colors.
The ground cover plants improve the soil through the covering vegetation, protect it and prevent all kinds of weeds from settling on the grave. The grave decorations can then be placed between the ground cover plants. Since you no longer need large quantities, you can easily renew the decorations every season.
Flowering grave decorations for spring
When the sun and the first flowers come out, it is also time to renew the grave decoration that has been badly damaged by winter and to make it spring-like. Homemade grave decorations for spring require fresh flowers, preferably the deceased's favorite flowers. Of course, fresh flowers don't last forever, but there are a few ideas you can use to help them last longer: You can make arrangements in which the material serves as a moisture reservoir; such arrangements last surprisingly long, even with fresh flowers in bloom. You can place the flowers in special water tubes and hide them under more durable material. If you are making grave decorations for a cemetery that you can rarely visit because of the long journey, you could now also use artificial flowers. Unlike in the past, these are no longer sad plastic pieces, but really beautiful decorations that are little affected by the weather.
Summer grave decorations
In summer, a grave decoration made of fresh flowers is of course just as suitable as in spring; you can probably now use summer flowers from your own garden for your arrangement. With a little imagination, you will easily be able to arrange a flower arrangement in such a way that it will still be attractive when it dries slowly and when it has finally become a completely dry arrangement. Such a arrangement, which is suitable for drying, is created e.g. B. by combining some particularly beautiful individual flowers that are suitable for drying with everlasting greenery, such as some hedges, or with grasses and straw and artificial flowers or twigs.
The grave decoration will be autumnal
In autumn, the talented hobby gardener and designer no longer knows how to accommodate the many plants that are available in his garden for use in a grave arrangement. Now the plants are in season, and they generally last quite a long time when made into a flower arrangement. Flowers can be placed in cutting material, but you can now also make long-term arrangements from ivy and autumn fruits and autumn flowers that look beautiful for a long time even without moisture storage. Now in autumn is the time for lanterns or grave lights, which give the grave an additional decorative glow.
The grave decorations in winter
In winter you can help yourself to the ingredients for Christmas arrangements; perhaps you can make a magnificent arrangement out of pine branches, which will then be decorated in a wintery way with bows and fairy hair. Any kind of (artificial) green twigs is also suitable, and dried fruits and the cones of numerous conifers that were collected on a walk in the forest can also be used as decoration.
Tip:
When making your homemade grave decorations, think about the numerous decorative accessories that can be purchased commercially. These often impressively beautiful items not only make it easier for you to put together decorative grave decorations, they also help you to develop and implement new ideas.
Unusual grave decoration from designer
If you design your grave decoration yourself, you will quickly come up with many more ideas than have been suggested in this article. There is a lot that you can use, especially from the rich area of nature, which will make the grave decoration look quite unusual as a result. Stones and shells can be collected on the sea beach, and there are many wondrous pieces of wood lying around in the forest
The idea of making a grave decoration yourself could also stimulate communication within the family: If you ask your children to help make the decorations, you can use the craft time together to tell stories from the life of the deceased. Maybe you can explain why Grandma can't have a carnation arrangement, and why Grandma rejected carnations so much, and you'll probably also think of an exciting story about the daffodils that she liked so much. With this type of storytelling in a group craft session, it is not difficult to introduce the children to a person they knew little or perhaps not at all.
Lanterns & Vases
It gets a little more difficult with lanterns, vases or bowls. These things are available in stores in a wide variety of designs and made from a variety of materials.
Stonemasons also offer a nice alternative to the conventional offers in hardware stores or garden centers. Here you can have massive bowls, lanterns or vases made to match the gravestone, some of which can even be walled up firmly on the grave or on the foundation of the gravestone.
This allows you to protect your valuable grave decorations from theft at the same time. Of course, a made-to-measure product has its price, but you can usually be sure that you will be able to present a select, unique piece at the gravesite.
While lanterns, vases and bowls decorate the grave at any time of the year, wreaths are often only placed on the grave on different occasions. The most traditional day to lay a wreath is Dead Sunday.
You can have a wreath made to order at the flower shop or simply choose from what is already available. Or you can make a wreath yourself according to your ideas. You can get suggestions and tips for becoming creative yourself in various books or on the Internet.
Wreaths are usually made from conifer branches. In addition, various accessories such as candles are used. The wreaths remain on the grave throughout the winter and, on the one hand, serve to decorate the gravesite, and on the other hand, they protect any plants remaining on the grave from the cold.
In addition to wreaths, pillows, arrangements, hearts or crosses are very suitable for jewelry in the cold season, which you can also purchase in stores or design yourself.
