Podocarpus trees can be planted in the cemetery. Podocarpus trees are older plants and can represent the eternity of the deceased. Pine and cypress trees are vigorous and solemn in shape and are often used in cemeteries. They symbolize eternal greenness and can also express people's nostalgia and admiration for their deceased friends.
1. You can choose some older plants in the cemetery to express the eternal meaning of the deceased. Common plants of this type include cycad, ginkgo, Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, Fagusaceae, pecan, Ulmaceae, banyan, Pistacia, camphor, Phoebe, palmetto, etc.
(1) Conifers: Conifers have vigorous and solemn tree shapes and are often used in cemeteries. They symbolize eternal greenness and can also express people's nostalgia and admiration for their deceased friends.
(2) Ginkgo: Ginkgo is called a living fossil. Its trees are majestic and long-lived. It has a simple, quiet, detached and free demeanor. In his article "Ginkgo", Guo Moruo called it "the sage of the East" and "a living memorial tower of Chinese humanities".
(3) Pistacia chinensis: Pistacia chinensis, also known as regular tree and cockscomb tree, belongs to Anacardiaceae. It is a tall, long-lived deciduous tree and a beautiful autumn ornamental tree species.
(4) Camphor tree: Camphor tree is an evergreen broad-leaved tree of the Lauraceae family. Camphor tree and sage are juxtaposed, and camphor tree can be used as the keynote tree to create a lush atmosphere.
2. Choose plants that can ward off evil spirits: Plants that can ward off evil spirits have been planted in cemeteries for a long time. The purpose is to ensure that the deceased can be safe in the underworld, which is in line with Chinese psychology. Such plants mainly include: weeping willow, peach, sycamore, cypress, etc.
(1) Weeping willow: Weeping willow is a deciduous tree of the Salicaceae family, which is mostly produced in Jiangnan provinces. The ancients often associated willows with farewell, so there was a custom of breaking willows and giving them to each other when parting.
(2) Peach:
(6) There are records about peach blossoms in modern gardening works such as "Qunfangpu". Peach has many connections with traditional customs such as warding off evil spirits and escaping evil. "Customs": "In ancient times, there was a god named tea... whose function was to hold ghosts and... to protect against evil."
(3) Wutong: Wutong was regarded by the ancients as a thing to avoid evil and auspiciousness.
3. Choose plants related to religion: Different regions and different ethnic groups have different religious beliefs. The same ethnic group also has people with different religious beliefs. These people believe in religion during their lifetime and hope to plant religious-related plants around their graves after death to express their devout beliefs. When selecting plants in the cemetery, consider plants related to religion, such as salas, lotus, etc.
(1) Aesculus chinensis This tree is also called horse chestnut and Thoreau tree and belongs to the horse chestnut family. It is a long-lived tree species. Legend has it that when Sakyamuni passed away, he was lying on his couch between two salas. The trees were blooming with flowers, the air was filled with music and fragrance, and invisible gods gathered around his couch. The horse chestnut tree blooms upright and dense white flowers in early summer, resembling a string of jade pagodas, giving it a mysterious color. It has become a symbol of Buddhism.
(2) Lotus (Nelumbo mucifera)
The lotus is commonly known as the lotus. Because it can emerge from the mud without being stained, it symbolizes holiness and is known as the "gentleman". It is the most respected flower in Buddhism. A kind of flower, "Lotus Buddha" is also used in Buddhist scriptures as a metaphor for the symbol of single-minded practice. Literary men often praise lotuses with poems. For example, Li Bai's "Song of the Sangha" has: "If you are silent for a long time, there will be no autumn moon, and your mind will be as clear as the green lotus in the world." Liu Yuxi also wrote: "The lotus in the pure and unstained lotus will hold the tens of billions of the world." of poetry.
4. Choose evergreen tree species: Evergreen tree species have the meaning of strength and evergreen, and are good plant materials for creating a commemorative atmosphere in the cemetery. In addition to pine and cypress plants, there are many types of evergreen trees that can be selected in the cemetery, such as holly, podocarpus, white orchid, heather, magnolia grandiflorum, mosquito tree, smile, green hill, ten great achievements, rhododendron, etc.
(1) Ilex (Ilex purpurea)
Ilex belongs to the Ilex family and is an evergreen tree. Holly is distributed throughout the south of the Yangtze River Basin and has a long history of cultivation. In ancient times, it had the auspicious name of "Ten Thousand Years Branch". Holly was planted in the palaces of the Han Dynasty and the tombs of emperors in the Song Dynasty. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, planting holly trees became common in Hangzhou. The poet Zhang Yu once Describe the scene at that time: "The holly trees in this house conceal everyone's beauty. Ten years after the spring breeze, I'm afraid there will be too much green shade."
(2) Michelia alba
Bailan It is an evergreen tree belonging to the Magnoliaceae family. Its flowers are white and extremely fragrant. It can be used in areas south of Wenzhou. The white flowers and fragrant fragrance can symbolize the everlasting cause of the revolutionary martyrs and their fragrance in the world, so they are often used in commemorative gardens, such as the two rows of white orchids in Zhang Minda's cemetery, which are solemn and majestic
(3) Rhododendron simsii) Rhododendron, also known as azalea, mountain pomegranate, and mountain red. Evergreen shrubs, azaleas, have a long history of cultivation in my country. The earliest record of azaleas in Dantu County Chronicles states: “It is said that in the first year of Zhen in the Tang Dynasty (785), a foreign monk planted the roots with medicinal herbs in an alms bowl on the rooftop. "Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, cuckoos have become the object of poets' chanting and sentimentality. Cheng Yanxiong, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, left a famous saying: "It is suspected that the blood in the mouth drips into flowers on the branches."
In addition, rhododendrons are also commonly used in foreign cemeteries to create gorgeous spring landscapes
5. Choose plants with personality: Based on the deceased’s occupation and favorite plants, choose corresponding plants with personality. . If you were an intellectual during your lifetime, you can choose literati plants such as the "Three Friends of Suihan", "Four Gentlemen", crape myrtle, white lilac, osmanthus and other plants to plant beside the tomb; if you were a teacher during your lifetime, you can choose peaches and plums, which mean "peaches and plums". The meaning of "all over the world".