Volunteers from the Haliburton County Master Gardeners (HCMG) have established a three-phase plan to beautify a new green burial section at St. Stephen’s Cemetery, with Algonquin Highlands council supporting the effort.
“HCMG are excited about this project and what it will do for the Highlands,” group member, Carolyn Langdon, told council Nov. 7. “This is a new opportunity for municipalities to further ‘green’ their assets and reduce their carbon footprint.
Volunteers have been working on the plan since last spring, Langdon said, with about 60 hours of donated time used to develop a site plan proposal. Workers also spent time on-site for in-person inspections and to test soil quality, which Langdon said is “very, very poor.
“It is sand and gravel with little organic matter – it is so poor it doesn’t support the growth of turf grass in many places,” Langdon said. “We can assume it hasn’t been top dressed or had any type of fertilizer in the entire history of the cemetery.”
She noted the presence of invasive weeds, such as hawk weed, is also an indicator of poor soil, lacking in texture and nutrients.
The plan includes a recommendation to bring in topsoil and woodchips to rebuild and nourish the soil, Langdon said.
The beautification will take part in three phases – the first around a recently-installed gazebo in the northern portion of the section, which HCMG hopes to complete next spring. They want to plant 150 small trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, with an estimated cost of $5,100. This is mostly for materials, with HCMG donating time to complete the work.
Phase two, proposed for 2026, will see 25 tree and shrub saplings and 50 native wild plants put in along a 15-foot setback near the eastern property line, away from any proposed grave sites. This carries an estimated cost of $2,600.
A third phase, slated for 2027 and beyond, will see another 25 tree and shrub saplings and 50 native wild plants dispersed throughout the 6,000 sq. ft. space that will house the 156 green burial grave plots. Langdon said the plants will be installed as row sections are completed, with 12 graves per row. All sites will be topped with four inches of wood chips, to further encourage soil regeneration.
HCMG has proposed 24 plant and tree types and species for the area, including: mountain ash, white spruce, white pine, eastern white cedar, burr oak, butternut, pagoda dogwood, highbush cranberry, nannyberry, common ninebark, American elderberry, snowberry, meadowsweet, spicebush, Virginia creeper, native bittersweet vine, liatris, New England aster, black eyed Susan, meadow sundrops, pale purple coneflower, lanceleaf coreopsis, pearly everlasting, and little bluestem grass.
Langdon said there would be a dense tree canopy covering the site within 10 years.
“Reduced mowing and increased woodland cover will create a more complex range of habitats, which will have the effect of sequestering carbon, providing a vegetative buffer from the noise and dust of Buckslide Road, and restoring degraded and compacted soil,” Langdon said.”
She added, “additionally, a treed space will provide visitors a place of tranquility and respite from exposure to the elements created by an open space cemetery.”
Mayor Liz Danielsen said she was shocked to see the scope of the proposed works, saying it far exceeded her expectations when council approved exploring beautification last winter. She acknowledged, with HCMG carrying out much of the work, there would need to be policies developed for planting on and donating to the site.
After HCMG recommended installing a pea gravel base around the gazebo, to improve accessibility, Danielsen said work in that area should be paused until public works staff has an opportunity to weigh in. There was also concern over leaving enough room for the potential establishment of a columbarium – a structure that houses urns containing cremated remains – and memorial stone.
Langdon noted new plants will need to be watered for a few weeks after being planted, necessitating a change to the township’s green burial bylaw, which stated no watering. She also recommended public works staff leave things like tree twigs and leaves alone while maintaining the site.
“That’s natural fertilizer for all the plants,” Langdon said.
Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux said she would be in favour of that, lauding HCMG for the work they’ve put in.
“I really love what’s being proposed. We’ve been talking about a wildflower meadow since we began this conversation – this is the Algonquin Highlands version of a naturalized burial space,” she said. “This is an excellent example of how natural burial could transpire for our region.”
St. Stephen’s is the only cemetery site in the County where green burials are permitted, with plots available to the public as of spring 2025.
