Among numerous elements of the Polish landscape, especially noteworthy are the roadside sacral objects. They are a testimony to national and local identity, and express centuries-old religious values. What is more, roadside crosses and shrines, surrounded by trees and shrubs, accentuate the space with exceptional decorative and cultural value. The presence of vegetation enriches the compositional value of these objects, complements their spatial structure, and highlights the aesthetic value.  This paper presents the results of a study of regarding roadside sacral objects, carried out in the Trzydnik Duży Commune, Lublin Voivodeship. The study was performed as an inventory, enabling us to determine the species composition, health condition, and age of the dendroflora accompanying the roadside sacral objects. Within the studied area 73 roadside sacral objects were inventoried. It was found that 53 of them were surrounded by trees and shrubs that represent 42 species. The most common include limes, lilacs, and white cedars. Health condition of the dendroflora is varied, however 78 % of the examined trees and shrubs are of very good or good health condition.

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Trees and shrubs significantly increase the visual value of roadside crosses and shrines. The paper presents results of the inventory of small roadside sacral structures in Borzechów Commune (Central-Eastern Poland). The species composition and the age status of dendroflora surrounding small roadside sacral structures were examined. We have inventoried 94 small roadside sacral structures in Borzechów Commune. Only 68 of them were surrounded by trees and shrubs that represent 39 species. The most common deciduous species are small leaved lime (Tilia cordata Mill.) and common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.), but the most common coniferous species is northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.). In the research area the most common small roadside sacral structures are crosses. Shrines and statues of saints are very rare.

Roadside crosses and shrines are a characteristic element of the Polish landscape. Small sacred objects are intertwined with history and the cultural context of Polish countryside and cities, arising from the need of faith, and have manifested piety for generations. Many crosses and shrines were erected as mementos of important national events, uprisings, war skirmishes, independence spurts that took place in the 19th and in the first half of the 20th centuries, commemorating national anniversaries, for instance 1918, anniversaries of Christianization of Poland, jubilees of historic events. They were also built upon old mass graves of victims of bygone epidemics. In the context of historic events, objects of small sacral architecture were met with harassment and repressions. Therefore, after regaining independence legal initiatives were undertaken by the state and the Church to save these objects. Unfortunately, not always did this type of object receive sufficient legal protection or proper appraisal. In documents they are present in the background. That is why ethnographic studies are often the only way to save their memory, and preserve the image of old crosses, statues, and shrines.