Why is Fall a Great Time to Use The Living Urn?

Fall is an amazing time of year full of change! Temperatures cool down and trees show vibrant colors - oranges, reds, and yellows fill the landscape! It’s a great time of year when people head outside and take walks, work in the garden, go on bike rides, or just take a drive and view all of the scenic beauty nature has to offer! Fall is also one of the best times to plant a Living Urn bio urn to grow a living tree memorial of a loved one!

With the growing popularity of The Living Urn’s patented bio urn and planting system, we receive frequent questions about planting tree memorials in the Fall. Below we provide answers to some of the most common questions.

Why is Fall such a great time to plant?

Many arborists claim Fall is the most ideal time of the year to plant trees. Throughout the country September through mid-November typically presents a great window to plant trees, especially if cold and snowy weather is delayed. In addition, in many Western and Southern states such as Florida, California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee, the planting window in many years can also include December.

There are a number of reasons why expert arborists claim Fall is an ideal time to plant trees. Below we’ve touched on two of the most important ones:

• Root Growth

With hot Summer sun gone and cooler weather setting in, deciduous trees basically shut down above the ground and drop their leaves. Instead of focusing on above ground growth, trees use the Fall to focus on root growth. This is especially important for newly planted trees, as they can spend their energy establishing themselves in a new soil environment and in growing their roots. This differs from the Spring and Summer seasons, when trees divide their energy into both, root growth and growth above ground.

• Lower Stress Levels

Fall presents mild weather and is sandwiched between the hot temperatures of Summer and the cold, frigid Winter. During this time there is much less stress on a tree - newly planted trees can focus on establishing themselves in a new growing environment, helping them grow and flourish.

What is the latest date we can plant a tree?

As a rule of thumb, you can plant trees as long as the ground is not frozen. However, many expert arborists recommend that to help ensure the tree can ‘root in’, it is necessary to plant at least about two weeks before the extreme cold of winter sets in (or before the ground starts to freeze).

In many places such as California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Hawaii, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee, the ground may not freeze (or only freeze in January or February). In these areas arborists agree it is okay to plant trees much later into the Fall (throughout November and into December).

Is it necessary to do anything to prepare the tree for Winter?

Trees are resilient and adaptive. They can handle many different conditions - from frigid Winter temperatures to the Summer heat. However, if it is a newly planted tree it is always recommended to give it more care during the first year. If you plant in the Fall, arborists recommend to water weekly (while taking into account any rainfall) and even continue watering after the tree has dropped its leaves (until the ground freezes). With this extra care, the newly planted tree is given some additional support for its root growth and also provides the tree with oxygen and moisture so it can grow and thrive!

An additional step is to make sure you’ve put down plenty of mulch around the tree. With mulch, you’re able to help keep the soil environment moist and provide insulation for the tree, protecting it from extreme variances in temperatures. Mulch also helps prevent weeds and other plants from growing adjacent to the tree and competing with the tree for essential moisture and nutrients.

The ground is already frozen where I live – can I still plant?

If you live in the Northern part of the United States, the ground will more than likely be frozen by the end of the Fall season. If the ground is already frozen where you live, it is recommended that you wait until the Spring to plant.

If you want to use a bio urn to plant a memory tree of a family member or friend and the ground is already frozen where you live, you still have multiple options. This includes choosing one of the following:

The Living Urn with a Tree (and select a tree shipment date in the future): You’re able to receive The Living Urn bio urn and planting system right away and the tree you select will be shipped directly to your doorstep and ready to plant on a date of your choosing. This can be simply noted at checkout on our website, or you can give our Denver-based customer service team a call at (800) 495-7022, ext. 0.

The Living Urn with a Tree Voucher: You are shipped The Living Urn bio urn and planting system right away that comes with a voucher for a tree, giving you the ability to select the tree you prefer and ship date of that tree for a future time. This option gives you flexibility if the tree type and ship date are both unknown at time of purchase.

The Living Urn System Only: You receive The Living Urn bio urn and planting system right away. With this option, you simply visit your local nursery when the time comes to plant and pick out a tree or shrub and follow the instructions that come with The Living Urn to plant and grow a living memory!

The Living Urn Indoors / Patio: You receive a dignified urn made from high quality porcelain (in either white, blue, or beige) that holds your loved one’s cremated ashes encased inside of the urn. Then, plant a bonsai tree or plant on top of the urn to honor your loved one in the home or on a patio! Additionally, this unique urn has a vase option that gives you the ability to place cut flowers in the center of the urn providing an array of color to your home!

The PlantUrn: You receive a beautiful handcrafted wooden indoor planter urn made from premium rescued California Sycamore and FSC Certified Black Walnut woods. This unique urn comes with an inner chamber in the bottom half that holds the cremated ashes, connected to the top half with rare earth magnets that are embedded in the urn. The top half of the urn can hold a succulent or other small plant of your choice, making for a beautiful decorative piece. This new urn is an enduring and dignified way to honor a loved one in the home!