Four Reasons To Grow a Tree With Your Loved One’s Cremated Ashes

The experience of losing a loved one can be emotionally taxing and mentally draining. When factoring in things like the costs of caskets, headstones and other funeral arrangements, it can feel downright overwhelming. There’s nothing that can make up for your loss, and the added confusion from juggling multiple details at once does not help.

However, there is an alternative method of memorialising your loved one that can be both unique and beautiful: the planting of memorial trees using your loved one’s cremated ashes. This relatively new method of honouring those who have passed on has been gaining popularity in recent years for a number of reasons and can actually deliver a sense of peace in an otherwise unpleasant chapter of your life.

Customised and Memorable

Botanical memorial trees are planted using the cremated remains of your loved one, a seedling, and fertiliser. These are all placed in a special, biodegradable urn that can be buried on a plot of land of your choosing so that a tree eventually sprouts up from it. Over time, the tree will grow, and each time you return to it, you can be reminded of what has been gained in the wake of significant loss. Where you choose to plant is up to you, whether that’s on your own land or a memorial garden.

Additionally, you can have a plaque made that contains the birth and death date with a personal message from you.

By using the cremated remains of your loved one to plant a tree, you can take comfort in knowing they will be memorialised in a unique and beautiful way, literally watching new life grow from the ashes.

You can also choose the type of memorial tree to plant depending upon the individual. 

Good for the Environment

Unfortunately, simply scattering untreated ashes can negatively affect the surrounding soil because of the high sodium content and pH levels inherent in cremated remains. However, planting a tree with a biodegradable urn and treated remains can be a wonderful way to memorialise your loved one while also helping the environment. You can purchase special biodegradable urns and have the cremated remains treated with a special pH-neutralising agent to ensure that the ashes don’t cause harm to the surrounding plants and soil. In this way, you can feel at peace knowing your loved one is providing benefit to the planet even in death.

Less Expensive

The last thing you and your family want to think about when grieving your loss is dealing with financial headaches. Unfortunately, the expenses that come with a traditional burial can be astronomical. From the casket to the headstone and all of the hidden fees incurred during the process, you may be paying in the tens of thousands.

However, the cost of being buried as a tree may be a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay for a traditional burial. Add to the fact that this method will help protect green spaces and forest land, and it seems like a much better way to honour the passing of your loved one — not to mention it will save you and your family a lot of grief.

A Renewed Sense of Comfort

After your loss, it can be a great source of comfort to return time and again to the resting place of your loved one and watch the growth of the tree you planted. The beauty of seeing the tree bring life to the surrounding area can also spring up positive feelings within your own heart and mind. A natural setting such as those cultivated in memorial gardens can enhance your perspective and bring a sense of oneness as it reminds you of the cycle of life and death and that we all return to where we came from.

Death is an inevitable part of life, but that doesn’t mean every aspect of it has to be sad, heartbreaking and hopeless. The beauty that can spring forth from the passing of another is made evident in nature as well as the familial bonds that can be made stronger from the experience. Planting a tree with the cremated remains of your loved one can be a beautiful way to reinforce these realities as it honours the passing in a special way. Knowing that they live on in a different manner may bring a wellspring of healing you never thought possible.