After a loved one has been cremated, many people struggle to decide what to do with the remains. Some people keep the ashes with them for a time before looking for a place to scatter the ashes. If the deceased didn’t specify details, a memorial garden cemetery becomes a beautiful final resting place.
These gardens create a nature-inspired setting for memorials. Often, they include a memorial marker as a permanent record of the life that was lived. Also, it sets aside a location for the family to visit.
A thoughtfully-chosen location honors the loved one’s life while also allowing closure for those who remain behind.
Table of Contents
What is a Memorial Garden?
Types of Memorial Gardens
Ideas to Honor Your Loved One
In comparison to traditional cemeteries, memorial gardens feel lighter and more joyful. These settings are serene and reverent, yet enhanced by the beauty of nature. Birds tweet, squirrels scamper, and the wind rustles through trees. Scattering in such a beautiful place connects the grieving process with deeper meaning.
Symbolically, scattering ashes in a memorial garden can represent a number of ideas:
- Releasing your grief
- Letting go of your loved one
- Liberation from sickness and pain
- Illustrating a “free spirit” personality
- Allowing a soul to fly away
- Joining the circle of life
- Connecting with a place
When you choose the right memorial garden, scattering the ashes feels natural and right. The release creates a sense of peace and a beautiful moment of honor.
What is a Memorial Garden Cemetery?
Simply put, a memorial garden is a place where you can lay your loved one’s remains to rest. These curated gardens feature well-tended trees, flowers, and greenery to inspire remembrance and encourage reflection.
Most of the time, memorial gardens are less formal than traditional burial grounds. They may be centered around specially-landscaped areas, like ash scattering gardens or memorial trees. Typically, these settings provide a marker as part of the scattering services. If you research memorial gardens, you’ll find that each location has unique views and memorials to remember your loved one.
Types of Memorial Gardens
Sometimes, this is a traditional cemetery with modern gardening elements. Many funeral homes have moved away from using the word cemetery and refer to burial grounds as a memorial garden. In keeping with the name, they incorporate lovely landscape elements. These locations may offer a mix of traditional burial plots, scattering areas, or columbariums.
In other cases, memorial gardens are private locations with unique memorial areas like scattering gardens, memorial trees, or even benches. Similar to cemeteries, these landscapes are curated to memorialize those who were laid to rest.
Ideas to Honor your Loved One
With cremated remains, you don’t have to make up your mind about scattering at the time of the loss. In fact, many people hold onto the ashes for a while as they grieve. Then, when they feel ready, they inter the ashes somewhere they can visit and remember.
At Rest Ashured, we’ve created a garden with several ways to memorialize loved ones.
Our Scattering Garden
Our scattering garden is a landscaped area with river rocks. The surrounding property has been landscaped to enhance the breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and portions of the James River.
We scatter ashes over this special area and place a memorial stone to mark the location.
Memorial Tree Dedication
For our Memorial Trees we honor loved ones throughout the planning process. We will respectfully scatter the ashes with the roots. Then we place an engraved and personalized memorial stone beneath it.
Scatter Ashes Together
Finally, we allow people to scatter pairs of ashes together. For example, a husband and wife’s ashes can be sent together to be scattered at the same time. We offer this service for both the scatter garden and the memorial trees.
Scattering Cremation Ashes with Rest Ashured
When you’re finished with your goodbyes, Rest Ashured provides a permanent and serene resting place for your loved one’s remains. The process is simple, and we’re here to help you.
Select a Scattering Service
Our cremation scattering areas create peaceful, meaningful places for you to put your loved one’s ashes to rest. Our property contains a mountaintop scatter garden, and memorial trees. You can choose either of these services through our website.
Whichever you choose, you can be confident that we have properly registered our property for cremation ash scattering. We have also set up long-term arrangements to ensure the sanctity of the location.
Sending Your Ashes
When you send the ashes, we help you through the process. We’ll send you a package with all the necessary packing materials. This includes the appropriate boxes, labels, tape, and simple shipping instructions.
Then, you ship the package to us through your local post office. (We also offer personal pickup for certain areas.)
Visiting Your Memorial
Our property is closed to visitors to protect the naturally lovely location. However, we hold two Days of Celebration each year. You’ll be notified by email prior to the event.
On these days, we encourage friends and family members to visit, remember, and reflect. You can plan to visit your loved one’s marker in the memorial garden cemetery.
Get in Touch with Us
We are honored by each scattering, and we strive to help people say goodbye with dignity and respect. If you have any questions about our services, please get in touch with us. Call 434-534-4007 or email us at info@restashured.com.
