Team Belgium get to grips with weeds on the Ypres Salient

A perfect storm of warm weather and exceptional rainfall in Belgium has created the perfect growing conditions for our plants, but alongside our colourful plant life, weeds have been thriving too. With so many weeds, we decided to bring in the reserves and give our gardeners some extra power to tackle the situation and get our cemeteries back to pristine condition.

So, if you have been visiting CWGC cemeteries in Belgium recently you may have noticed something slightly different, like an accountant with a spade or a stonemason with a wheelbarrow, as CWGC staff from across the country joined forces to combat the exceptional weed growth in the area.

With more than 220 CWGC sites in Belgium, keeping them free of weeds is a mammoth task for the 150 gardeners working across the country, and with many of our horticultural colleagues taking a well-deserved summer vacation, the unexpected weed growth meant that all hands were needed to ensure that the weed infestation didn’t spiral out of control.

The CWGC in Belgium is 100% pesticide-free, which means over 220 cemeteries in Belgium are all weeded manually by our gardening teams. In the Ypres Salient alone, this is about 100 kilometres of headstone flower borders.

While the main aim of the week was to combat the weed growth, it was also a great chance for teammates from across the country to meet, catch up and enjoy each other’s company, and served as a keen reminder of what we’re all working for: to preserve the memory of the men and women of the Commonwealth who gave their lives during the two world wars.

Want to learn more? Find out about CWGC Belgium war grave tours.