Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

memorial garden stone

Memorial Stones and Spring Gardens

memorial stone

With the arrival of Spring, thoughts turn to the beauty of the blooming outdoors and the tasks of cleaning up flower beds and tidying up the lawn.  Some of our clients are planning to reserve a small space in their gardens for a memorial stone to pay tribute to a loved one. One family chose to pair a memorial stone with a planting of daisies to commemorate an April birthday. Another client chose a natural river rock stone personalized with baseball artwork to honor a brother who loved the sport.   In addition to high quality marble or granite, the river rock can be engraved with names, dates, and artwork to reflect hobbies or passions.  Sometimes stepping stones are used as a path marker or placed around a bird bath to create a serene setting for wildlife.

Small plaques with a poem or verse could be mounted on the wall or desktop for those that don’t have a lawn or the time to maintain a garden and want to create a memorial on a smaller scale indoors. You could combine live potted plants, silk arrangements of favorite flowers, photos, or framed mementos to add interest and keep the memory alive.

cremation urn

Fall Garden Greetings

greetings

While wandering about the garden and weaving our own web, we just about crashed through this work of art. Should have got a better angle on this, you could actually see the web shooting out of his blow hole!

Next, we want to show you a quick and easy example of a memorial garden we’ve done in a small side bed on the west side. And yes, we have weeds.
memorial garden angel

We’ve used the iron garden angel and a personalized garden memorial stone that can be customized with your choice of artwork and font styles. The pieces weather well, and are on a small enough scale to be discreet in your garden as well as easily relocated if needed.

For families that have chosen to scatter the ashes of a loved one or just want a special place to remember a special person or pet this is an easy and cost effective solution.

Fall is an excellent time to start your memorial garden.

Neighborhood Garden Memorials

When we stroll through the garden, we’ll stop and pay tribute to the makeshift memorials we find. At the elementary school is a marker dedicated to a school employee who died suddenly. A tree has been planted in his memory. Simple.

Sometimes planting a tree in your loved one’s memory can give the family a place to return to honor the loved one. Tree plantings can be marked with a tree dedication stone personalized with artwork and the departed’s name and dates

At the high school nearby there’s this simple roadside memorial.

A more elaborate memorial is tucked in a quiet corner of a nearby bed and breakfast.

Memorial stepping stones, memorial garden plaques, as well as a statuary or garden memorial sculpture are other ideal ways to memorialize your loved one if you are limited in space because these items can represent your loved ones’ personality. Garden stones and garden benches can be used indoors or out, and are all loving touches in your sacred space.

Regardless of the memorial garden that you choose best represents your passed loved one, memorials can be used to heal, restore, and remember the time and life that your loved one spent on Earth.

Today’s tip for better living: Get your hands dirty!