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If you’re looking for some amazing memorial rock garden ideas, then take a moment to check out what we discovered. Whether creating a small space on a deck or patio or filling your entire yard, we’ve got some great inspiration for you.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- What's a Memorial Rock Garden?
- What Do You Need to Make a Memorial Rock Garden?
- Memorial Rock Garden Design Ideas for a Deceased Loved One
- Memorial Rock Garden Design Ideas for a Deceased Pet
- Memorial Rock Garden Sign or Plaque Message Ideas
Memorial gardens can be any size or have any price tag you want. Everything is an option, and nothing is off-limits. How you feel in the space is what’s most important, especially when moving through grief to discover life without a loved one.
What's a Memorial Rock Garden?
A memorial rock garden is more than just well-placed stones. It’s also a space to support the process of journeying through and recovering from grief to live a healthy, productive life. But how does it achieve that?
First, it gives you a geographic location where you can be with your thoughts, sit in quiet contemplation or meditation, and even cry while paying tribute to someone special. When visiting the garden, you permit yourself to have any emotions needed. When you leave, you can choose to take them with you—or return to them later.
Second, the garden is intentional. Its purpose supports your grief journey by visually telling a story with the aid of memorial stones, seating areas, trees, plants, water features, and anything else suitable to your needs that will represent your love. You choose what goes in it, which means you also determine what doesn’t.
Everything you do to design and build your memorial rock garden supports catharsis. With each feature or plant chosen and stone placed, you’re creating a unique but geographic space for your grief (and love) to exist outside yourself. There, you can visualize and validate those emotions by way of nature.
Moreover, by physically being in the garden, you begin to open yourself to nature’s healing power. There, you can reinvest your energy into more positive interactions, thoughts, and experiences, potentially leaving space to experience:
- Boosted cognition
- Reduced stress
- Restoration of concentration
- Decreased brain fatigue
- Improved happiness and wellbeing, and
- Improved social interaction
What Do You Need to Make a Memorial Rock Garden?
What works for your garden will be individual to your needs, space, and budget. For example, you can create a small, beautiful garden starting with a few well-placed, painted stones and some flowers in one corner of a larger backyard and then turn it into a complete oasis over time. In addition, this garden might use:
- Cremation and accent stones
- Bird baths, a bug motel, and some towering grasses
Or you could design a more extensive garden starting with giant boulders, pavers, potted trees, and carved stone benches. You might also consider:
- A water feature and water plants
- Flowering arbors
Both ideas are equal in beauty, thought, and intent; it’s just that the final look of your garden depends on your style, the space available—even if it’s a deck or patio, and just how much money you want to spend. (Hint: These also make excellent memorial gifts for anyone building a memorial garden.)
Whether this is a small or large project, you’ll also need to consider site design. That could be anything from measuring the location for a rug, fill-dirt, landscape fabric, or buying the right square foot of pavers.
Pro-tip: Before you head to the store or click-buy online, read through the next couple of memorial garden ideas and grab a pencil and piece of paper for sketch work. Once you’ve got a reasonably good idea, it’s time to measure your budget against your goals. And remember, your build can take place in phases.
Memorial Rock Garden Design Ideas for a Deceased Loved One
Designing a memorial rock garden for a loved one is an enormously emotional thing to do. But by the end of your build, you’ll have a beautiful place to visit to let your loved ones know how much you think about them.
1. Small decks or patio memorial rock garden – for any loved one
Outdoor living might be smaller in an apartment, condo, or townhouse, but that doesn’t mean you have to narrow your memorial rock garden ideas. Instead, you’ll “focus, but saturate” a small section of your space.
In other words, you’ll start with the carved or painted stone, building out and around. Here’s how.
- Choose an affordable and sustainable rug to define your space, like jute.
- Buy an all-weather-friendly plant stand or pedestal from a second-hand shop.
- Place your memorial stone on the weather-proof pedestal for height.
- Surround the stone with flowering and non-flowering plants of varying heights.
- Drape LED twinkle lights among the plants for low light and nighttime enjoyment.
- String all-season, long-lasting LED lights or hang small lanterns up above.
- Finish with a plaque or sign attached to the siding to identify their name or a goal, like “Find Peace” or “Acceptance.”
2. Gnome house and memorial rock garden – for a small child
To create a memorial garden for a child, you can quickly turn the base of a tree into a gnome home, fairy garden, or elf house by:
- Hanging small, handcrafted doors and windows appropriately and near the base of the tree
- Planting of moss and flowers nearby, and
- Designing a footpath of stones to and from the front door
Include small ceramic flowers and hand-painted stones in the likeness of woodland creatures such as rabbits, birds, and butterflies on the footpath.
Pro-tip: This idea works using stumps, too.
3. Stained glass stepping stones through the hydrangeas – for mom
After you’ve prepped your lawn, trimmed the hedges, and mulched the garden, you can add some DIY stepping stones using a kit and some precut stained glass.
Wind the stones through the garden mulch, placing them around trees, and straight to a bench where you can relax with the birds and think about your mom.
4. DIY Zen memorial rock garden – for a partner or spouse
Zen gardens inspire a connection with nature and are well-manicured with clean lines. That makes them ideal for moments of silence and contemplation. Many design gardens as their oasis where they can add such things as a water feature, moss, Japanese maples, a tea garden, and statues. And yes, even with large, central statuary carved memorial stones.
In your sketch, consider adding sand to indicate the ocean with your loved one’s memorial stone sitting in the center—representing an island.
5. Plant a tree at the center of a circle of memorial stones – for dad
Choose a prime location suitable for a memorial tree you’ll plant in your dad’s honor in a well-landscaped backyard. Carve one stone with your dad’s name, his years of life, and a short message such as, “In loving memory of.”
Surround the tree with similarly cut stones that you can pull outward, away from the tree as the trunk widens. Add mulch to the inner circle to complete the look.
Memorial Rock Garden Design Ideas for a Deceased Pet
Memorial rocks will last for generations, so you don’t have to worry about how they’ll hold up in all-weather scenarios.
6. Small space memorial rock garden – for your cat
For a memorial rock garden display your pet would have loved, add a shallow water feature for bees and other insects, a hummingbird feeder, and a squirrel feeder. It’ll help you remember all those chirps and chatters they made while watching the movie from your window sill.
7. DIY paw print stepping stones – for your dog
Add personalized paw print stepping stones to guide you through your low-maintenance, drought-resistant, no-mow, lawn alternative backyard. Order the mold online and get ready to make your own, dedicating time and talent to your best friend.
8. Statuary engraved with pet’s name – for any pet
Your grief won’t diminish quickly after losing a loved pet, but you can honor them by creating a memorial garden where they loved to visit and with their likeness as a statue prominently centered.
Once complete, visit daily for a few moments or hours to remember their life as a gift and find peace in knowing that you were lucky to have cared for them almost their entire life.
9. St. Francis birdbath – for all beloved pets
St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment and animals, is a venerated Catholic religious figure. His likeness, therefore, is ideal for any memorial rock garden, honoring the life of any beloved pet.
Choose a small rock sculpture in his likeness as a bird bath, one that rests center in a flower garden, welcoming any winged figure respite from the day’s heat.
10. Cacti and succulents - for turtles and tortoises
A garden lush with cacti and succulents works for those who don’t exactly have a green thumb. Asian garden stools can add a pop of color—though they’re likely to crack if used on gravel versus grass or an even surface.
Search for images of giant turtle and tortoise stone memorials and markers across SE Asia for inspiration for this potential garden idea.
Memorial Rock Garden Sign or Plaque Message Ideas
Memorial rocks will last for generations, so you don’t have to worry about how they’ll hold up in all-weather scenarios. That also means the carved "in loving memory" messages and other rest in peace messages will retain their integrity for some time. So, let’s take a look at a few you might use.
11. [Your Pet’s Name] + “Free to Run”
Giving your pup the freedom they deserve whenever possible is the least a human can do.
12. “Rest in Peace, My Beloved.”
Sometimes it’s difficult to discern if a quote works better for your furry best friend or a life partner.
13. “The Love of Yesterday is a Memory Forever”
Some quotes work universally for parents, children, partners, and children. Here’s one that works for your beloved pets as well.
14. “With you, the long way home never felt long enough.”
An excerpt from Ben Maxfield works for that long-time love who was perhaps a high school sweetheart.
15. “I didn’t want to escape unscathed.”
Some people want to die with their shoes on, some standing upright—others want to go out with a bunch of ruckuses.
16. “You brought me sunshine when I only saw rain.”
This quote from Donna Donathon works for the one who consistently and unfailingly brought you joy. It’s also perfect for any critter that could read you like a book.
17. “Whenever I miss you, my heart hugs you.”
Alexandra Vasilu’s line works for anyone or any loved pet.
18. “Forget me not.”
Forget-me-nots symbolize remembrance, so this plays on that plant's name. Hire an artist to paint it on a plaque and hang it next to your garden.
19. “On that shooting star.”
Your child would wish on that shooting star every evening before bed, which is why it works in their remembrance.
20. “And then there was one.”
You were two peas in a pod and BBFs who did everything together. This sign works for your canine companion, whether carved in stone or etched on a plaque.
21. “We’ll dance together again in the stars.”
Maybe you danced with your partner, and also your dog? If so, turn this into a plaque you can hang somewhere near your garden design.
Creating a Memorable Garden for a Loved One
Hopefully, we’ve piqued your interest with some memorial garden ideas. But the best thing you can do now is to go ahead and scan through some additional images from your favorite online locations before starting a garden sketch.
You’re bound to discover a few things you might have ordinarily glossed over—one’s that will make a real difference in your garden’s final appearance.
Source:
1. American Psychological Association. “Nurtured by nature.” Monitor on Psychology, 1 April 2020. 51(3). Apa.org
