What to Know Before Purchasing a Memorial Tree

Planting a memorial tree for a departed loved one is a beautiful way to honor their life and process your grief healthily. The Living Urn takes the concept of a memorial tree one step further by including the ashes of your loved one. The patented Living Urn® is America's first and leading bio urn and planting system designed to grow a beautiful, enduring memory tree with cremated remains. Even though this innovative, eco-friendly bio urn has a complex design, it’s very easy to use! This guide will walk you through the necessary steps to ensure your one-of-a-kind living memorial can flourish for years to come!

How to Buy a Memorial Tree

Here are a few simple steps for how to buy a memorial tree.

Look Up Your Area’s Growing Zone

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has established a hardiness zone map to help determine which trees can thrive in different regions around the country. You can also use this easy tool from the Living Urn and simply enter your zip code to discover trees that grow well in your area. Or simply google “growing zone” and your city or town. It’s the most important part of choosing a memorial tree; it must be a tree that grows well in your area. Otherwise, there’s a good chance it won’t thrive or even survive.

Consider What Kind of Tree You Want

You can choose a tree from your local nursery or choose from over fifty different trees or shrubs from The Living Urn’s award-winning nursery. There are evergreen trees, fruit trees, flowering trees, nut trees, and shade trees. Fruit trees encourage group gatherings to pick and process their fruits, but they live shorter lives than hardwoods like oak or pecan. Nut trees attract wildlife like birds and squirrels and also offer a food harvest to gather. Flowering trees soothe the heart and soul with their beauty and scent and attract pollinators like our precious bees. Evergreen trees are also heavenly-scented, beautiful trees that symbolize life even in the coldest of times.

Pick the Right Place to Plant Your Memorial Tree

Or, pick the right tree for the place you have. Different trees have different sunlight requirements; if your spot lacks sunlight, make sure you pick a shade-tolerant tree. Or, if the space for your memorial tree is small or close to a house or wall, choose a tree with a narrow width. Be sure to look at the growth measurements for your tree when it’s fully grown to ensure you choose a good spot for it to grow. If you want to use the tree for shade in the summer or insulation in the winter, be sure to research how to position your memorial tree.

Where to Buy a Memorial Tree

Choosing a quality nursery from which to purchase your memorial tree is an essential step for growing a healthy memorial tree. The Living Urn’s award-winning nursery ensures that each tree sent off is healthy, strong, and ready to become a full-grown tree. We also know that some of our customers may have their own favorite local nursery where they wish to purchase their memorial tree, which is why we offer our BioUrn planting system without a tree. It allows you to work with a nursery that you may already have a relationship with and also lets you avoid waiting for our tree to ship. Make sure you choose a young tree with robust roots; we recommend avoiding saplings since they have a lower success rate. Be sure to ask the nursery employees any questions you might have about caring for your young tree, like how much to water it once it’s planted.

When to Buy a Memorial Tree

As Needed

You can purchase a memorial tree when you’re ready to plant your living memorial. In the meantime, our bio urn will keep your loved one’s ashes safe indefinitely—there’s no rush! It’s very common for families to purchase The Living Urn and keep the ashes in the urn in a safe place and wait until the weather is right, or when everyone can be together to plant their loved one’s memorial tree.

Family Program

The Family Program allows you to purchase multiple Living Urn systems so that more than one memorial tree can be planted. If your family or group of loved ones wants to divide up the ashes of your departed beloved and grow multiple memorial trees, then this is the option for you. You can choose as many Living Urns as you want; just be sure to choose trees appropriate for each individual area.

Pre-Planning Options

If you’d like to plan ahead, the Living Urn offers its Pre-Planning Program. This allows you to purchase a Living Urn system and a voucher for a memorial tree when the time comes for its use. There are easy-to-follow instructions for using the voucher to purchase a memorial tree. This is an excellent way to ensure that your wish to become a tree is honored, making the process easier for your family and friends.

Seasonal Considerations

As a general rule of thumb, as long as the ground is not frozen where you live, you can still plant a tree! In fact, many consider the Fall season one of the best times of year to plant trees. Several trees in the northern regions experience freeze-thaw cycles. The fall should offer plenty of time (six weeks) to establish strong root systems before the season's first hard freeze—especially if the tree is a native of the region.

Plant a Memorial Tree the Right Way

The Living Urn® BioUrn® and Planting System is the only urn in the world designed to be used with robust, living trees instead of seeds or tiny seedlings. This is an important detail because growing a tree from a seed can be extremely difficult for non-expert growers. Our special BioUrn® comes with our proprietary RootProtect® additive, placed on top of the cremated remains when planting. The Living Urn’s trees are 2’ to 4’, depending on the tree type and season, and possess a strong root system to ensure the growing success of your special tree. As your loved one’s cremains unite with the tree, your family can enjoy watching it grow and flourish over the years. Your living memorial can keep your loved one’s memory alive for generations while giving back to nature in a meaningful way!