How To Create A Memorial Garden
What Is A Memorial Garden?
A memorial garden is a loving tribute dedicated to your dearly departed and is created in remembrance to honour them and the life they have lived. This could be for a family member, a friend or even a treasured pet. Memorial gardens can be anything from simple and intimate to a more lavish and grander setting, it all depends on what you know your loved one would have wanted and what is preferred by family.
Where Do I Start?
The first step is choosing a good space, don’t worry if you don’t have a larger garden, a memorial garden can be as small or as big as you’d like. If possible, you want to choose an area that is private enough for you to retreat to and mourn discreetly without being disturbed.
Staying close to home, you could choose a space in your back garden or another location, which is near enough to visit whenever you like and perhaps a space which reminds you of a pleasant memory connected to your loved one.
You want to make sure your designated space draws a lot of sunlight and is out of the shadows. This is so that any plants you decide to plant at the memorial, can thrive and grow to their fullest potential. The radiating feeling of the warm sun can also be comforting to you during spring and summer, as you visit the memorial.
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is a difficult process, to ease the pain it would be a good idea to choose a location which can be seen from your house, like a bedroom or kitchen window, that way you could feel close to your loved one even when you're not directly in the memorial garden.
How Can I Make It Special?
If your loved one has been cremated, to make your memorial garden as special as can be, you could scatter your beloved’s ashes into the ground and cover it back up with earth.
Another way of including your loved one’s remains is through a land burial, this can be done with one of our many Biodegradable Cremation Urns. We also have handcrafted Outdoor Cremation Urns specifically designed for outdoor use in an array of materials, shapes and colours.
What do I Include?
There are no rules for a memorial garden, you can add whatever you may like. If you have poured your loved one’s ashes onto the site, you may wish to protect this valuable ground by adding small wooden fencing or stone boundary markers to highlight the spot.
Incorporating plant life into your memorial garden is a thought worth exploring. You could choose to plant your beloved’s favourite flowers; you could choose a mixture of plants; you could choose flowers depending on what they represent or you could colour coordinate.
For example, if you have lost your adored partner, classic red Roses represent romance and are the universal symbol for love. Another favoured flower is the majestic white Lily, these symbolise the sweet and innocent and has been associated with purity and rebirth.
The Zinnia flower is a brightly coloured blossom which symbolises friendship, remembrance and is the ideal tribute, the Zinnia meaning reminds us of an absent friend and never to take our loved ones for granted.
Choosing a single flower can be overwhelming, you could incorporate many flowers creating a stunning mixture of colours and plant life.
Planting A Memorial Tree
If you have the space, you could even plant a memorial tree, using our Biodegradable Tree Urn. You could include your loved one’s ashes in the planting process and watch the tree of your choice slowly grow from a seedling into a magnificent and admirable memorial.
Adding Personal Mementos
To make a memorial garden extra special you may want to add something that personally reminds you of your loved one. Such as a picture protected in a weather proof frame or perhaps something that had belonged to them or something they loved. For an animal lover you could include a stone statue of a dog or cat.
If your memorial garden is dedicated to your pet, adding their collar or favourite toy could personalise the tribute.
Another way of personalising your loved one’s memorial garden is to incorporate a plaque with their name and a short loving message, poem or memoir, which you could write yourself and then have engraved into stone.
Stone is long lasting and can endure all types of weather making it the perfect material to use. Stone statues such as angels and doves representing peace and a heavenly spirit, can add a sense of grace and elegance to the memorial garden, making it even more precious.
Adding Seating
Adding some place to sit could be important as you may wish to spend parts of your day close to your dearly departed. As you connect with your loved one and reminisce, you want to be comfortable and relaxed.
A beautifully designed stone bench could be a good attribute, or perhaps an engraved garden bench could make a good place where you and family can sit together and reflect on your loved one’s memory.
Adding Lighting
Grief can hit us at any given moment, especially in the evening when we are deepest in our thoughts. Adding light powered solar lights could be a remarkable addition to a memorial garden, as it adds a magical spark. They are a safe, easily maintainable source of light which would be beautiful and comforting for nightly visits.
Solar lights are also sustainable during rough winter months and have an irradiating effect during fog or rain. Other sources of light include candles and lanterns, though you want to choose these carefully as they are generated by heat.
Help With Grief?
Building a memorial garden can keep your mind focused and even bring you joy during the difficult time of losing a loved one. It can make you feel close to your beloved while taking your mind of the loss and focusing on something positive.
When we go through grief, we tend to shut ourselves away and avoid our emotions which is an unhealthy way of dealing with loss. Simply having something to do and keeping pro-active can aid in the healing process. When the garden is complete you then have a place to go to remember your loved one.
