Why settle for a grave when you can be a tree?
That's the thinking behind a greener alternative to traditional burials now open at Mornington Green, a former golf course on the Mornington Peninsula.
Here a company named Living Legacy Forest has pioneered a way to scientifically treat a loved one's ashes and infuse them with trees such as jacarandas, magnolia, birch, ginkgo, oak and eucalypts.
Located on 126,000sqm of gardens, it offers a more personal and immersive way of celebrating life,
The company envisions families getting together to plant their trees, watch them grow and enjoy the beautiful, landscaped surroundings that future generations will look forward to visiting.
They can even choose to have their own ashes added one day, creating a literal family tree.
Each tree relates to the season in which the loved one was born: someone born in summer, for example, might be commemorated in a jacaranda, which flowers in December. Or maybe a yellow gum, which boasts scarlet flowers during the winter.
Living Legacy Forest founder and chief executive Warren Roberts said the idea of "Legacy Trees" first came to him after the death of a dear friend.
Finally finding solace in beauty of flowers, he began wondering what it would be like if people's ashes could somehow be infused into trees, providing a spiritual connection to nature.
The result was Legacy Trees, which are not only a way to commemorate life but part of a growing trend for more sustainable end-of-life options.
It is not well known that human ashes are toxic to the environment. Warren said that when developing the treatment, he hired plant pathologist and "then spent two years killing every single tree that we touched".
"What we learned was that human ashes have the PH level as bleach and oven cleaner, which is 12 out of 14. It's almost one million times higher than the healthy soil around trees."
This is why many public gardens ban scattering ashes around trees.
Eventually, Warren's team came up with a patented process whereby a special liquid is added to the ashes to reduce their alkalinity. This is then added to the soil to be infused into the tree via its roots, becoming part of the plant.
Today, the biorganic process has been adopted by cemetery boards in Melbourne, Sydney and more.
In 2020. Living Legacy Forest's network of forests also included Wellington Dam near Bunbury in WA; Lilydale, Altona, Fawkner in Victoria; and Frenchs Forest and Macquarie Park in NSW.
As well as memorialising someone who has gone, each tree creates thousands of seeds, perpetuating life, while the site provides a haven for wildlife.
Today, for example, the Wellington Dam forest is thriving with life - it is now a habitat for black cockatoos and the endangered mainland quokka - after the ashes of hundreds of people became part of the treescape.
At each site, horticulturists will provide care for the tree in perpetuity, made possible because the land is protected by a conservation agreement and cannot be developed or logged.
Other protections exist. The Somerville site was carefully selected as a low risk for fire, flood and wind. Nor does it adjoin any high-risk uncleared bushland.
To protect against bushfire, it has over four kilometres of sprinkler systems and enough dam and bore water capacity to provide more than 20 litres of water to every tree every day.
For each Legacy Tree added, the company plants 400 additional trees in partnership with One Tree Planted and Eden Projects.
During its first release, it will contribute more than 120,000 trees to the environment here and overseas.
Warren said the cost of a tree commemoration is less than half the price of a traditional funeral and includes the tree, custom plaque and perpetual care.
There are no annual frees. Prices do, however, depend on the size of the tree and precise location.
For more information, call (03) 9059 4959 or visit livinglegacyforest.com
