7 Things Michigan Cemeteries Can Remove From a Grave Without Telling the Family

You leave a winter wreath on a loved one’s grave and expect to see it on your next visit.

But Michigan cemeteries set their own rules, and some let staff clear items away without telling the family.

Here’s what Michigan cemeteries can remove from a grave without telling you.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. The rules cited here were on each cemetery’s website when this was written in October 2026. They’re subject to change, so check with the cemetery that cares for your loved one’s grave.

1. Leftover Fall Decorations

Fall decorations at Ann Arbor’s Fairview Cemetery come with a deadline. The city’s rules set October 1 through 15 for cleanup by visitors.

If you leave decorations at a Fairview grave, cemetery staff will remove any that remain after October 15.

This year, that cutoff fell on October 15.

The city will also remove and discard all unauthorized decorations “without notice.”

The rules add that new decorations may be placed after November 1, so you can decorate again once October ends.

2. Glass Containers

If you bring a glass vase to Ann Arbor’s Fairview Cemetery, the rules say glass, china and all fragile vases aren’t permitted.

For your family’s grave, the city will also remove broken or unpainted vases.

Norvell Township Cemetery in Jackson County prohibits glass containers and hanging baskets on its burial spaces.

From April 1 through October 31, the township requires decorations to sit in a clay pot, concrete urn or metal vase, with a limit of three on each space.

Its sexton has the authority to remove and dispose of containers that don’t follow the township’s rules.

The page mentions no notice.

Evart’s cemetery rules ban jars, bottles and jugs for cut flowers too.

3. Shepherd’s Hooks

If you place a hook at a Grand Rapids grave, the city’s cemetery rules don’t allow shepherd’s hooks, ornament holders or decorations that penetrate the ground.

Another part of the rules says unapproved objects placed on a lot “may be removed without notice or compensation.”

Fairview’s rules allow shepherd’s hooks placed as close as possible to the left or right side of the marker, with the basket hanging over the marker.

4. Vigil Lights

If you bring a vigil light to a Grand Rapids city cemetery, the rules list it among the items that aren’t allowed.

That list sits in the same part of the rules as the line about removing unapproved objects without notice.

The list ends with “etc.,” so it doesn’t name every banned item.

No object other than a grave marker and approved flower urns or baskets should be placed on a lot, either.

5. Borders and Enclosures

If you're thinking of edging your family's plot, Grand Rapids' city cemetery rules don't allow coping, curbing, hedging or enclosures of any kind on cemetery lawns.

Coping and curbing are edgings around a plot.

The city's banned-items list also names stones (except those placed on markers), bottles, jars and statues.

Fairview, in Ann Arbor, doesn't permit plastic or wood border edging, fencing, benches, rocks, gravel and mulch.

The city has the right to remove landscape decorations that don't conform, in the same stretch of text that says the city discards unauthorized decorations without notice.

6. Trees, Shrubs and Rose Bushes

If you plant a shrub beside a grave at Norvell Township Cemetery, the township's rules prohibit planting trees, shrubs, plants or bushes on a burial space.

The Township Board reserves the right to remove or trim any tree, plant or shrub on the cemetery grounds.

The page mentions no notice before removal.

Ann Arbor's rules name trees of any kind, shrubs and rose bushes among the prohibited plants at Fairview.

They permit annual and perennial flowers at the base of a grave marker only.

The city also has the right to remove any plants planted in the ground that don't conform to those rules.

In Grand Rapids, the city reserves the right to remove unapproved trees, shrubs and flowers from its cemeteries.

7. Winter Wreaths and Grave Blankets

Evart's cemetery rules set April 15 as the date for you to take winter decorations down.

The sexton discards decorations that haven't been taken down.

Evart's rules also warn that wire, string and rope used with artificial wreaths, flowers and grave blankets can damage the mower.

Norvell Township Cemetery allows a grave blanket and a wreath from November 1 through March 31.

If winter decorations aren't removed by April 1, the sexton or the sexton's representative will remove them.

Toys and Mementos at Fairview

If you leave a toy for a child, Ann Arbor's Fairview Cemetery permits toys, mementos, figurines and lighting on a grave if they're within a brick border.

The border can sit no more than 12 inches from the marker's foundation.

Fairview's rules also prohibit Styrofoam decorations and vases.

The rules don't allow standing easels except for holiday wreaths.

They add that no decoration can infringe upon an adjacent grave space.

Grand Rapids' Year-Round Calendar

Grand Rapids' city cemetery rules list set dates under the heading "Dates to Remember."

If you visit from April 1 through October 1, all decorations should be placed in an urn or basket.

Urns and containers should be no larger than 12 inches, with one approved urn per grave.

From October 15 through March 31, decorations should be removed from burial spaces, and items in urns can remain.

A third line covers winter and allows only winter wreaths from November 15 to March 1.

The page doesn't explain how that wreath line fits with the October 15 removal date.

Separately, faded, disintegrated or broken artificial flowers will be removed.

Cemetery Oversight

Michigan's Cemetery Regulation Act gives the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) a Cemetery Commissioner who registers and regulates cemeteries.

One group is exempt: LARA's page says cemeteries owned and operated by a municipality, church or other religious organization don't fall under the Act.