Recently the city chopped down the hedges along Mt. Pleasant Cemetery at the top of the hill, which are usually around 10 to 12 feet tall, making the cemetery visible to the houses across the street and passersby on 5th Ave W and W Raye St. According to Cynthia Thurman from the Parks and Recreation Central West District office, the laurel hedges had grown so tall that they were running into the Metro power line above and encroaching on many of the nearby graves – the city had to cut them.
“We needed to get a grasp on the maintenance on that hedge because it had been neglected so long,” she said.
But some neighbors think the trim may have been too extreme, affecting the privacy of both memorial patrons and the bustling neighborhood around the cemetery. One reader called the hedge chop a “massacre.” Candy Martin wrote,
I have been wondering why on earth they cut down the hedge that surrounds the Mount Pleasant Cemetery…It was very tall, so when I drove by and saw a road crew cutting, I assumed they were trimming it down a bit to get it out of the wires above, but next time I came by it was cut down several feet to about waist height. I don’t understand why they did this because it looks terrible. My father is buried at Mt Pleasant, and I thought it was very nice to have the greenery there. Now it doesn’t feel very private or calm. What about the people that live across the street – do they enjoy seeing the cemetery now instead of the greenery?
Meg Ferris shared Candy’s sentiment,
It makes it feel exposed, sort of like the graves don’t have privacy any more.
But according to Thurman, the hedges, which are now around 4.5 feet won’t be this short for long. She said that because the hedges had been neglected for so long, the only choice was to cut them short to allow them to grow in and be maintained in the future. In the future the hedges will be kept at around 5 to 6 feet tall.
“It doesn’t look good today, but this time next year it will look great,” she said. “The tops will start sprouting and the whole hedge will fill in.”
Thanks to Candy and Meg for the tip!
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18 responses so far ↓
1 Jenni // Dec 22, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I drive by this cemetery almost every day and am horrified for both the patrons of the cemetery and the home owners living next to it! I would be irate if my formerly lush and green view had transformed into a cemetery. Shame on Seattle Parks and Rec for taking such sloppy measures to trim the greenery. It will “look great” in 1 year. Not buying it. Not buying it at all.
2 jkmwatt // Dec 22, 2009 at 10:55 pm
It's just about impossible to kill laurels. I haven't been by there this week, but I think it would be nice to have the cemetery a little more part of the community again.
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4 Matt_the_Engineer // Dec 23, 2009 at 9:02 am
I agree with [jkm]. That area didn't have a great feel to it with one side of the street completely blocked off – like we're trying to hide something. There should probably just be a screen between the cemetary and the street, not a thick imposing wall.
5 bunny // Dec 23, 2009 at 11:38 am
Laurel is almost impossible to kill, and a drastic “mutilation” every few years is the only way to control it. Ms. Thurman is corrrect that it will be improved by this treatment and although not pretty at the moment it will be great in the near future. Good Job parks department.
6 David Wilma // Dec 23, 2009 at 11:59 am
I think the trimming is fine. I live next to the cemetery and drive along 8th Avenue West several times a day. I like the view and I like the sense of openness.
7 98119 // Dec 23, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Here's hoping they don't use chainsaws again to keep the hedges “5 to 6 feet tall”. A massacre indeed.
8 jsriley63 // Jan 21, 2010 at 2:56 pm
We now have a view of the mountains! And the sunrise over the cemetary is breathtaking. I like my new view out the kitchen window. For those concerned it will grow back.
9 SBqtw // Jan 21, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Living across the street for 12 years, we have always loved and appreciated the natural hedge surrounding the cemetary. I was horrified to hear the multiple chainsaws in the morning, and witness the massacre. The greenwall could have easily been trimmed or thinned; it certainly did not need to be hacked to stumps on the ground. Clearly the city was simply taking the path of least resistance in this thoughtless butchering, and in no way considered the aesthetics or the drastic impact on the neighborhood and homeowners. What a shame that a few people at the Parks Department could make a decision to sloppily chop the hedge in such an amateur fashion, and we had not even an advance warning to protest this action. Thanks Ms Thurman. It will be many, many years before our street looks good again.
10 jsriley63 // Jan 21, 2010 at 10:56 pm
We now have a view of the mountains! And the sunrise over the cemetary is breathtaking. I like my new view out the kitchen window. For those concerned it will grow back.
11 SBqtw // Jan 22, 2010 at 5:51 am
Living across the street for 12 years, we have always loved and appreciated the natural hedge surrounding the cemetary. I was horrified to hear the multiple chainsaws in the morning, and witness the massacre. The greenwall could have easily been trimmed or thinned; it certainly did not need to be hacked to stumps on the ground. Clearly the city was simply taking the path of least resistance in this thoughtless butchering, and in no way considered the aesthetics or the drastic impact on the neighborhood and homeowners. What a shame that a few people at the Parks Department could make a decision to sloppily chop the hedge in such an amateur fashion, and we had not even an advance warning to protest this action. Thanks Ms Thurman. It will be many, many years before our street looks good again.
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