| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big 10:59 - May 1 with 1508 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
As a family we've been struggling to know what to do with Dad's ashes. Mum doesn't want them in the house, jewelery with them in seems a bit weird, and he didn't really have a 'special place' where we could scatter them. Other than his vegetable patch, but then my mum is 80... she won't live there forever.
So we're thinking of mixing the ashes into the soil of some kind of tree/bush that can be in a large pot, but won't get too big that it'll need planting in the ground, so we can move it easily when the time comes. Any ideas? |  |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 08:38 - May 2 with 349 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 07:10 - May 2 by DJR |
Whatever you do don't get a box plant (buxus).
Box can suffer from a range of problems, including box blight and box tree caterpillar, which have become particularly prevalent in recent years in many parts of the UK. Both can seriously damage and disfigure box plants.
In our garden, we've lost three well established box plants in the last two or three years to one of those diseases (I can't figure out which). [Post edited 2 May 7:13]
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I've never heard of a box plant TBF. | |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 09:29 - May 2 with 335 views | BlueForYou |
Acers can be very difficult, particularly if you have heavy clay soil. I'd go with Camellia or Hydrangea for a pot or Olive as a tree but again give it plenty of drainage! |  | | |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 11:15 - May 2 with 293 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 11:43 - May 1 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I was thinking something a little bigger than that! Don't know how much there is in the way of ashes but if it's anything like in the movies they'll swamp a bonsai tree! |
Think in terms of a couple of bags of sugar, with the ashes larger than sugar grains, but smaller than kitty litter.
There's a lot of it, and I don't think the pot plant tree idea is the best, personally.
There are "Green Burial" sites which bury or strew ashes in woodland, for a fee.
You could ask a landowner for permission to scatter or bury at a beauty spot which means something to you as a family.
Or many people just find an isolated spot and scatter without permission.
There's a lot of it, if scattering, and everybody needs to be upwind on a blowy day! |  | | |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 11:32 - May 2 with 287 views | Ryorry |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 11:15 - May 2 by ArnoldMoorhen |
Think in terms of a couple of bags of sugar, with the ashes larger than sugar grains, but smaller than kitty litter.
There's a lot of it, and I don't think the pot plant tree idea is the best, personally.
There are "Green Burial" sites which bury or strew ashes in woodland, for a fee.
You could ask a landowner for permission to scatter or bury at a beauty spot which means something to you as a family.
Or many people just find an isolated spot and scatter without permission.
There's a lot of it, if scattering, and everybody needs to be upwind on a blowy day! |
You're right - out of interest looked it up (and this may cause me to change my own plans, so thanks!) -
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/cremation-ashes-and-plants.h |  |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 13:09 - May 2 with 260 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 11:15 - May 2 by ArnoldMoorhen |
Think in terms of a couple of bags of sugar, with the ashes larger than sugar grains, but smaller than kitty litter.
There's a lot of it, and I don't think the pot plant tree idea is the best, personally.
There are "Green Burial" sites which bury or strew ashes in woodland, for a fee.
You could ask a landowner for permission to scatter or bury at a beauty spot which means something to you as a family.
Or many people just find an isolated spot and scatter without permission.
There's a lot of it, if scattering, and everybody needs to be upwind on a blowy day! |
I know about green burial sites, there's one near my parents. But I'd like something to go to, if that makes sense, rather than arbitrarily somewhere in a field.
I'd aim to use a really big pot, so the ashes get mixed in with soil/compost and won't (theoretically) damage the plant, if that's doable.
We don't have a spot that means somethingto us, certainly not to him, as I said in the OP. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 13:24 - May 2 with 248 views | KingsCrossBlue |
Have a look at a red robin - it's technically a bush, but we've grown one in a pot to a 13 ft tree. Easy to keep and you get beautiful red leaves if you hack it back occasionally | | | |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 13:27 - May 2 with 242 views | DJR |
This thread reminds me of my friend who accidentally lost (I can't remember why) about half his father's ashes.
He then experimented burning various objects to see if he could produce ashes which matched his father's.
He was thus able to make up for the missing ashes, and along with his family, later scattered them at the agreed place. [Post edited 2 May 13:28]
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 14:43 - May 2 with 212 views | IndependentlyBlue |
What about a bay tree? Very hardy, easy to trim and maintain; and you can dry and use the leaves. |  |
| Better to stay silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 16:27 - May 2 with 185 views | BloomBlue |
My moron next-door neighbour who I've had many arguments with, as a way of him apologising (they're moving house), kindly gave me a Douglas Fir tree. That's only small, he said, and it would only grow to 6-7 feet in 20 years. Maybe get one of those?
Must admit I felt a bit guilty about all the names I've called him to his face, but he's as thick as shlt.
Anyway I agreed with him, given it's only a small slow growing tree I've planted it near the house, and in years to come when I look at it, it will remind me of him as a neighbour. |  | | |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 19:03 - May 2 with 156 views | Dubtractor |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 13:09 - May 2 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I know about green burial sites, there's one near my parents. But I'd like something to go to, if that makes sense, rather than arbitrarily somewhere in a field.
I'd aim to use a really big pot, so the ashes get mixed in with soil/compost and won't (theoretically) damage the plant, if that's doable.
We don't have a spot that means somethingto us, certainly not to him, as I said in the OP. |
Quite the opposite of harming it, the ashes will be choc full of nutrients that help the tree grow. That's partly why this sort of thing has become popular, as the memory of the deceased lives on in the tree. |  |
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| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 21:04 - May 2 with 107 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Horticulturistas - recommed me a tree/bush that will last but won't get too big on 19:03 - May 2 by Dubtractor |
Quite the opposite of harming it, the ashes will be choc full of nutrients that help the tree grow. That's partly why this sort of thing has become popular, as the memory of the deceased lives on in the tree. |
Well, actually, having looked into it, ashes can be very alkaline and not good for plants. But there are ways around that (using less ashes, or mixing with a special compost that balances it out). | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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. It (he?) was surprisingly gritty. I thought they’d be finer. 