Woodlands Garden Cemetery - 6abc Loves the Arts

August 24th, 2016 (WPVI) -- In the 1800s, before there were public parks, cemeteries served as community picnic spots and the tombstones were adorned with beautiful grave gardens.[br /][br /]The Woodlands on the banks of the Schuylkill River in West Philadelphia is a prime example, an oasis of green in the city, and the non-profit is hosting a special event to celebrate their newly restored garden cemetery and invite visitors to discover this hidden treasure.[br /][Ads /][br /]The Woodlands dates to 1788. It was built as a private estate, then converted a half century later into a cemetery. "We're still an active cemetery but we're also an historic site," says Executive Director Jessica Baumert, "and we act very much like a park for the community."[br /][br /]This spring, they launched The Grave Gardeners project, asking volunteers to help restore some of the cemetery's cradle graves-Victorian style tombstones with built in container gardens.[br /][br /]"We had over 70 people who were extremely enthusiastic and interested in becoming what we're calling our grave gardeners," says Baumert.[br /][br /]Saturday, September 17th from 1-4pm, The Woodlands is hosting Grave Garden Fète to show off their work and raise money to restore even more cradle graves next year.[br /][br /]"We're really excited for the Garden Fète," says Baumert, "it's going to be a great event, an opportunity for the public and hopefully for a lot of new visitors to come explore the site."[br /][Ads /][br /]She encourages visitors to pack a spread and come picnic. There will also be a handful of workshops.[br /][br /]"We're going to have a natural dye workshop using all things that have been collected from the ground-black walnuts, acorns," says Baumert, "It's a really fun place to come and explore, and we're kind of a hidden gem right now so we're trying to bring more people to the site all the time and show them this is a really significant place in Philadelphia."[br /][br /]You can learn more about the history of the Woodlands and the Grave Gardener's Project at [url HREF="http://www.[br /]woodlandsphila.org" TARGET="_blank" REL=""][b]www.woodlandsphila.org[/b][/url]