Burial in the ground in a burial plot, though a traditional method of memorialising your loved one, is increasingly untenable from environmental and zoning perspectives. Burial plots are filling fast, with some cemeteries projected to reach their full capacity in three years. Increasingly, Australians are turning to other options to remember their beloved which mimimise environmental impact and offer a cost-effective alternative to more traditional methods.
One Means of Planting Trees in Human Ashes
Alternative methods of preserving human ashes exist. One method consists of a biodegradable urn, or bio urn, which contains both soil and ashes within the same container. The bio urn is filled with ashes, proprietary soil mixes, potting soil, and wood chips. The urn is then ready to be planted.
This type of planting with ashes, called a memorial tree, suffers from distinct disadvantages. Human ashes are highly alkaline. The high levels of salt in ashes are also detrimental to the growth of trees. The lack of manganese, carbon, and zinc micronutrients in ashes does not support the healthy growth of sapling trees.
Disadvantages of Home Burial of Bio Urns
One disadvantage of the bio urn is the placement of the urn. Placement of the bio urn in your backyard may result in the abandonment of the memorial tree if the house is sold and you move. A place exists where your beloved can be commemorated with living legacy trees in a location that may be visited regardless of where you live.
Introducing Mornington Green
Mornington Green is a memorial garden where professional arbourists cultivate living legacy trees grown in part from human ashes. The ashes of your relative are buried as a tree, a living and growing testament to your relative's life. These trees created in part from ashes form a park in which you may not only watch the growth of your deceased’s memorial but also rest in the shade of a garden of trees created as living legacies for other persons. Each tree is accompanied by a plaque. Mornington Green offers a place of repose and nourishment, from high tea and picnics to lunches and refreshments at a function area. Mornington Green also sponsors events such as bulb planting and Monet Meets Chardonnay, an activity where you may paint and enjoy a glass of wine.
The Treatment of Human Ashes for Plantings
Legacy trees differ from memorial trees planted in bio urns so far as the human ashes are treated before the planting of a tree seedling. The transformation of human ashes into a tree without prior treatment of the ashes results in the formation of non-viable tree saplings. These saplings often last no longer than 14 days, with 90% of saplings dying within two weeks. Mornington Green, in consultation with Living Legacy Forests, converts ashes from a more alkaline pH range from 10 to 14 to a more neutral pH range of 4 to 7, a pH range more conducive to the growth of saplings.
The Care of Legacy Trees
Converted human ashes, even those 60 years or older, are used to cultivate new trees. Saplings may be planted before death to be nourished by treated ashes at a later date. Also, more than one set of ashes may cultivate a tree. The addition of up to four sets of ashes to one tree creates a family tree dedicated to more than one person. Should the tree die prematurely, bio-liquids rejuvenate the microbes that change ash into nutrients designed to foster the growth of a new tree. Fire is averted through an extensive sprinkler system, as well as placement of Mornington Green away from bush and other highly combustible lands. The park is protected in perpetuity, free from the spectre of development and logging.
Mornington Green creates a space conducive to not only the memorialisation of your beloved, but also a place for rest, reflection and refreshment. The treatment of ashes before infusion into tree soil ensures the viability of trees for decades to come. The creation of an environmentally sustainable park designed for solace not only provides the fostering of one legacy tree but the contribution of many trees to a unique memory place for your deceased. Mornington Green offers a novel contribution to sustainable remembrance distinct from burial but similar in intent.
