A few years ago, the ashes of someone we loved sat in a container on a shelf.
Not because we didn’t care - quite the opposite. We just didn’t know what to do with them. Scattering felt too final, and somehow not quite right. An urn felt cold and permanent in the wrong way. The ashes stayed on the shelf, and the months passed.
We are both longtime gardeners on Vancouver’s North Shore, and one afternoon - almost on instinct - we started wondering whether we could do something living with them. Something that could be planted, visited, and watched grow. A place to go on an ordinary Tuesday, not just on anniversaries.
So we tried.
We carefully incorporated a portion of the ashes into the soil around a young tree in Ann’s garden. And it died. We tried again with a different tree. It died again. We were disappointed, but not ready to give up - because the idea felt right, even when the results weren’t.
The problem, we eventually learned, is chemistry. Cremated ashes are naturally high in pH and mineral content, which can damage young roots. A tree can’t simply be planted with ashes mixed into the soil - the conditions have to be carefully prepared and gradually balanced to support healthy root development.
We went back to basics. We read, we consulted with horticultural experts, we experimented with soil blends and pH testing, and we monitored closely. After two failures, our refined approach finally worked. The tree established, put down strong roots, and began to grow.
That tree is still in Ann’s garden today. It’s thriving.
What started as a personal search for something more meaningful became Tribute Trees - a way to offer a living memorial to families across British Columbia who are navigating the same quiet question: what do we do now?
Every Tribute Tree we grow is cultivated using the same carefully balanced process we developed through those early experiments. Each one is tracked, tended, and delivered with the same care we would want for our own loved ones. Families can now choose to send a portion of ashes or all of them, depending on what feels right.
Because we know how it feels to have ashes sitting on a shelf. And we know how it feels to finally find a better answer.
— Ann & Simone, Tribute Trees