Frequently Asked Questions

Yes!
You can select and plant a tree today that grows as part of your family history. Your tree can be nourished with the micronutrients from your ashes later on.
Additional family members can be added to the same Legacy Tree making it a living family tree.

While cremation methods have changed over time, ashes do not have a “used by” date. The Living Legacy procedure has been proven to work with cremated ashes dating back to the 1960’s.

Yes!
The treated ashes of up to 4 people can nourish each Legacy Tree, with the LL Thrive formula being able to be infused into the soil at the base of the tree at different times.
In this way, you’re Legacy Tree becomes a process heirloom passed down through generations.

Yes!
You can pre-plant your memorial tree in advance. In fact most of our patrons pre-plant their tree while they are alive and have their treated ashes added to their tree later so that when they die and they wish there could be there for loved ones, their tree can be their for them. Other nominated family members (and pets) can be added to the same tree over time to make a living family tree.

People like to choose a tree that flowers on a significant day like mothers day, fathers day or their birthday so their tree can bring visitors flowers from their tree instead of people bringing cut flowers.

YES!

YES!
If cremation has not occured yet our Legacy planners can coordinate cremation through a trusted local funeral directors so the ash to tree process is seamless. If you want to use a funeral director as part of your ceremony you can still bring your own funeral director. If you already have cremated ashes there is no need to engage a funeral director and we will coordinate the tree planting ceremony, treatment of ash, plaque and certification process.

Living Legacy Trees cost starts from $7,000 including GST. There are no hidden fees or inflation costs. Price ranges can vary based on different factors such as the size and type of the tree, location, quantity of ashes infused into the tree, inclusions and more.

At Wellington Dam, our founders packages start at $7,0000 including GST and have no hidden fees or ongoing costs. This green burial choice includes discounts, a tree of your choice, perpetual care of your tree, a planting ceremony with photography and more.

According to ASIC, the average spend of a funeral of $19,000. It’s very important for us at Wellington Dam to offer the community a more affordable alternative that is beneficial for our environment.

Memorial tree costs vary depending on tree size, location and the number of people going to the same tree. Your Living Legacy Memorial tree includes the ash infusion ceremony which can remove the need for a traditional funeral and its costs. Australia’s Seniors magazine and Gathered Here both state that the median cost of a burial funeral in Australia is around $19,000 and a Living Legacy Trees in all states start at less than half that cost in some cases almost a third of this.

What is the average cost of a funeral in Australia? Let’s put all of this together:

Average funeral home professional service fee and standard third party fees $6,500
Average headstone cost $3,500
Average right of interment fee $6,000
Average interment fee $2,000
Grave liner $1,000
Average cost of a funeral in Australia $19,000

NO!
while a grave needs constant maintenance, the forest you are helping to enhance will naturally bloom! This means, unlike a cemetery, in 25 years your family will not have to pay more to keep your tree.

Your cremated ashes are given a scientific treatment that turns them into living molecules. They are then infused with a tree of your choice, where your loved ones can visit all year round.

Your memorial tree and the plot are reserved for your tree in perpetuity and we will never sell another tree in your plot area. However, the markers and plaques provided are guaranteed only for their Natural Lifetime of the product and this guarantee does not extend to damage or loss resulting from environmental factors, force majeure or resulting from any mishandling by you or any of your invitees. During this time, we are not liable for maintenance and care for your marker or plaque.

Your purchase includes the ongoing exclusive right for your ashes and Legacy Tree to be planted in your Legacy Garden area.

This right may include the option to permit other people’s ashes to be infused into your tree or into other Legacy Trees within your Legacy Garden area..

Our certified horticulturists will provide ongoing care for the tree in perpetuity, meaning that your tree will always be looked after for future generations to enjoy.

Forest Conservation Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 59 639 330 617 ) is dedicated to providing the best possible experience to you and your family.

Your purchase is protected under Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”) and Wellington Dam FA provides additional warranties as part of our commitment to excellence..

If a tree dies, it is replaced by us at our cost. We use the mulch or seedlings where possible to pass on the energy from the tree.
A tree will always be replanted in your chosen location and the site is protected in perpetuity.
Our biological infusion turns cremated ash into nutrients that provide sustenance to the tree for seven years; which is a sufficient amount of time for the tree to establish itself with new seeds and seedlings that will also live on.
In the event that a tree dies prematurely, one application of bio-liquid to the same area where the tree was planted re-activates the microbes which convert the ash into nutrients allowing you to re-plant a new tree in the same location.
We also provide a crystal keepsake which you can retain some of the ashes or some seeds for future planting.

Each site has its own fire management plan.
For example the Mornington Peninsula site has over 4 kilometres of fully integrated and operational sprinkler systems as well as enough dam and bore water capacity to provide over 20 litres of water to every tree every day.

The site was carefully selected as a low risk for fire, flood and drought. The location does not adjoin any high-risk uncleared bushland and is approximately 300 metres from Western Port bay, making it a relatively low fire risk location. .

Yes, but it is still not good for them. Large established trees can survive the impact of the cremated remains even with the high pH and salt levels when they are in small amounts. When ashes are buried it sets like concrete. Although it’s not an environment which plants grow from sometimes they grow away from it to survive. The adverse impact of untreated ash on soil health can last hundreds of years as historic cases have dug up buried cremated remains confirm. Just like with plants in footpaths or roadway medians, some can survive in a tough environment by growing around objects. The difference with our trees is that they grow from the ashes, continuing the circle of life. However, the markers and plaques provided are guaranteed only for their Natural Lifetime of the product and this guarantee does not extend to damage or loss resulting from environmental factors, force majeure or resulting from any mishandling by you or any of your invitees. During this time, we are not liable for maintenance and care for your marker or plaque.

The land is protected by a conservation agreement so the land cannot be developed or logged. The land is cared for by a land trust whose responsibility is to care for the land in perpetuity..

Forest Conservation Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 59 639 330 617 ) is dedicated to providing the best possible experience to you and your family.Your purchase is protected under Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”) and Mornington Green provides additional warranties as part of our commitment to excellence.

Yes. Different sized trees can have larger volumes of ashes added per tree. By adding multiple sets of ashes to a tree over time it can become a family tree.

Cremation in Australia is conducted by reputable crematoria registered and regulated by each state. It involves the final disposing of a deceased body by placing the body inside a purpose-built cremator for 1-2 hours. The body is then exposed to extremely high temperatures of around 1000 degrees celsius, resulting in the remaining “ashes” and bone fragments. These remaining bone fragments are processed further into a fine powder, and collected together in an ash container, which is then returned to the family of the deceased. It’s a small known fact that cremated ash is extremely alkaline at a similar pH level to bleach and oven cleaner which inhibits carbon nutrient exchange in soil, photosynthesis and water absorption.

Can you scatter ashes anywhere? Technically, the scattering of ashes in Australia is permitted. In most cases, permission from your local council is necessary, or alternatively from the owner of private land. If you own the land yourself, then no permission is necessary. However, most people choose to scatter ashes in a beautiful place but don’t realise that they are actually harming the very ecology that makes the place beautiful. We do advise against scattering ashes. Human remains have a high pH, and large salt content, which is proven to be harmful to soil health and ecosystems without the Living Legacy treatment. The Living Legacy treatment treats the ash to create living molecules so a person’s energy can live on through trees

Most people do not realise just how much human cremated ashes actually weighs, about 3 kg. A little-known fact is that trees require a pH of around 5-6 to be able to grow, cremated remains have a very high pH of 12 out of 14. Additionally, the pH of the total salts content is around 2 cups, which is a large volume. For the ashes to help a tree grow, it is not enough to just balance the pH and salt, the tree still just grows around the ashes to survive. Human cremated ashes require treatment before they can help trees grow. Just scattering them and burying them, even with bio degradable urns, does not help them grow. The urn bio-degrades and the untreated ashes do not help the tree grow. Our organic treatment creates micro-nutrients that that help trees grow. This has now been adopted by leaders in the Cemetery Industry because of its proven growth results.

There are no restrictions from the Australian Department of Health when it comes to posting human ashes, however you will need to check with the postal services themselves as this is at the discretion of each company. We advise that you call ahead of posting and be 100% transparent about what you are posting. Use tracked shipping and any necessary labels to ensure it is transported with the utmost care.

Many people are opting for a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to memorialise cremation ashes. Using a bio urn is thought to be an obvious choice to bury ashes within a memorial garden and allow a tree to be planted atop of the bio urn. But did you know that cremated ashes are actually highly alkaline and has massive salt content and therefore harmful to the environment? And by burying ashes within a bio urn and eventually allowing a tree to absorb the ashes can in fact be harmful to the tree and surrounding plants. A Legacy Tree however is a definitively more sustainable, environmentally friendly and beautiful way to allow your loved one to live on after death. A Legacy Tree is a tree planted in soil that has been infused with the ashes of your loved ones and is cared for by leading experts and horticulturists. Using patented Living Legacy Ash Treatment, cremation ashes are detoxified in order to make it compatible to the soil and therefore allow a tree to thrive and absorb the newly composed nutrients from your loved one’s ashes. Your environmental contribution by choosing a Legacy Tree is maximised thanks to the 400-tree offset planting we undertake in Australia and abroad in high needs habitats for every Legacy Tree planted.

The ashes are carefully handled by our trained arborists using the Living Legacy patented formula and organic treatment which balances the pH and salt levels and shifts the composition of the ash so that it can sustain living soil microbes which can exchange energy and nutrients with the tree in a healthy living soil environment that increases the electrical conductivity of the soil. Untreated cremation ashes weigh about 3kg and have a pH of 12 out of 14 which is the same as bleach and oven cleaner they also contain around a cup of salts which in high levels such as this inhibits photosynthesis. The final part of the ceremony activates the ashes with the tree’s circle of life by the family taking turns watering the already treated ashes with living microbes as illustrated below.

We do offer an ashes only treatment service available  during the winter months and upon request. This service has limited availability.

Research conducted by Adelaide's Centennial Park, found that 160 kilograms of carbon dioxide is produced on the day of a cremation, almost four times more than a burial. Over the long-term the maintenance of a grave site, generates more carbon dioxide then cremation. Planting a single tree is generally enough to offset the carbon impact of cremation. For every Legacy Tree planted we plant an additional 400 offset in your name trees locally and abroad to offset the impact of cremation plus contribute more oxygen than the average human breath takes in a lifetime. Every Living Legacy is acknowledged for leaving the world a better place with trees

Untreated cremated remains are not helpful to tree growth. Independent laboratory tests showed that 90% of seedlings died when planted directly in untreated cremated remains (ash). The pH of untreated ash is 12 out of 14, most trees need a pH of about 6 to grow from soil. The pH scale is logarithmic to the scale of 10 which makes the pH of ash 1,000,000 (1 million) times too high for healthy growth. The Living Legacy treatment shifts the composition of the ash to be able to create micronutrients and healthy soil which can exchange energy with the tree. Biodegradable urns are exactly that, only the urn biodegrades, the cremated remains can remain in a toxic high pH state for many years harming the soil biology and tree health. At best a tree will grow around the untreated ashes which tends to form into a salty clump or rock, at worst the remains will harm or kill the tree, and the soil biology that sustains life. Biodegradable urns come in many forms. The most affordable biodegradable urns are simply made of cardboard and the higher end urns are made of ceramic. Although the urn may be biodegradable, untreated cremated remains are not. Independent laboratory tests showed that 90% of trees planted in untreated cremated remains died from toxic shock. You may have noticed that all over the world bones and cremated remains and bones are often found at ruin sites sometimes 1,000’s of years old. The idea of bio urns is that the ashes create a tree, the science shows that the roots will grow around or through the cremated remains and in many cases can harm the roots from the high pH and salinity levels. Living Legacy Trees are unique in that the cremated remains are transformed into micronutrient elements small enough to be transported to tree roots using the LL Thrive formula. LL Thrive creates a living memorial and path for loved ones to connect to nature in your absence.

All memorial tree forests and gardens are protected by state and local laws protecting the land from development in perpetuity. Wellington Dam Legacy Forest (Western Australia) is protected by a state government conservation covenant registered on title. The penalty for breaching the covenant includes jail and there are several CCTV cameras setup on site by state government to record the health of the endangered mainland Quokka who’s habitat the community is restoring. Mornington Green Legacy Gardens (Victoria) is protected by a section 173 agreement which is registered with council to ensure the site is not developed. Access to both sites is available 7 days a week with some public holidays closed. Guided tours can be requested via the local site manager or contact@livinglegacyforest.com.

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