Planting your pet's ashes in Highland
About 720 dogs and cats are lost in Highland each year, by our estimate. If you'd like your pet's ashes to grow into a tree or return to the water, this page covers the soil, the season and the cost.
- Trees matched to Highland's climate
- Soil-safe planting method for ashes
- Real prices for bio urns and aquamation
Highland, Indiana
Your living memorial options around Highland
Northern Lake County's winters, with snow, road salt and constant freezing and thawing, break down cheap garden ornaments quickly. For a lasting outdoor marker, choose granite or bronze, sit it on a few inches of compacted gravel, and place it away from the front walk and driveway. Because some low ground near the Little Calumet stays wet, a slightly raised spot is kinder to any marker.
Highland's postwar houses often have small, established backyards with a fence line, a mature tree and a garden bed or two, which suits a modest memorial: a small engraved stone at the foot of the tree, or a plant that flowers around the time your pet died. Indoors, a shadow box or a framed print on the wall works in any room. You can decide at your own pace.
Most families in and around Highland arrange cremation through their local vet, who works with a regional crematory, and then do the memorial themselves. That's a good split. Bio urns ship by mail, and the local feed store, nursery or hardware store usually has the compost, pine bark and a pH kit you need. The one thing worth buying locally is the tree, because a nursery near you already knows what survives your winters and summers.
Highland is home to about 23,409 people, the 44th-largest of the 50 Indiana communities we cover. Chicago, roughly 25 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Highland run from there.
If you want to compare providers, look at Munster (2 miles), Schererville (4 miles) and Lansing (5 miles). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
8,600
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Highland
How we calculated this
23,409 ÷ 2.5 = 9,364 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 8,600. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
720
Highland families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
8,600 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 720 a year. A floor, not a ceiling.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
To check the figures yourself, see American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
The local attitude to ashes and memorials
The human cremation rate in Indiana sits around 56.5%[5], so many families have a foot in both camps, and generations can disagree. Grandparents may expect a grave in the yard; younger relatives may want ashes they can take with them. Talking it through before the vet asks you to choose saves a hard conversation on a hard day. A tree over buried ashes often satisfies both sides.
Source for the Indiana number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Highland, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
When to plant in Highland's climate
A Highland winter is a useful waiting room. With 5 months of freezing lows, you can mix the ashes with compost in a covered bin or tub in a garage or shed during the cold months and let the mix rest. One gardening guide suggests at least 90–120 days[6] before planting, which fits neatly between a winter loss and spring planting. Test the pH before the tree goes in.
Freezing and thawing through January, February, March, November and December can heave a newly planted tree out of the ground in Highland. If you plant in autumn, mulch well after the first frost to keep the soil temperature steady, and check the base of the tree in spring. A spring planting avoids the problem entirely and gives roots a full growing season before the next winter.
What a greener goodbye costs in Highland
Water cremation prices overlap with flame cremation. One Delaware provider charges $150–$450[7] for private aquamation by weight, including a standard urn, and $50–$225[8] for communal. That makes private about 2.5 times the shared price[9]. Prices in Highland depend on who offers it locally, so ask for a written quote that says whether the ashes come back and in what container.
We keep the detailed Indiana price table on one page so it stays current: see Indiana prices.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Where you can plant or release ashes in Indiana
Cremated remains aren't a health hazard in the way a body is, which is why planting ashes in your own garden is rarely restricted. Public places are different. Parks, nature reserves, beaches and waterways in Indiana each have a manager with their own policy, and some don't allow scattering or planting at all. A short email before the day saves an awkward conversation.
Indiana keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Highland.
Start with the Indiana rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Highland's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
A simple plan for your pet's eco memorial
- If the pet belonged to a child, tell them plainly what happened and what cremation means, in words that fit their age.
- Let them choose the plant, but from a handful of options you've vetted first for hardiness and for being harmless to the other animals in the house.
- Use a pot for a small pet such as a hamster, rabbit or guinea pig: there's only a small amount of ash, and a pot keeps the memorial close.
- Give them real jobs on the day: blending the compost, scooping it into the pot, watering, picking a stone to paint.
- Explain the ashes honestly as part of their pet that's now feeding the plant, and answer questions as they come, even months later.
- Take a photo of the child with the plant each year on the same date. It becomes a record of both of them growing.
Remembering your pet in Highland
Many Highland families have deep roots in the Region, with parents, siblings and grown children in neighboring towns. A shared keepsake plan works well: a main container at home, a couple of tiny vessels or a piece of ash jewelry for relatives, and perhaps a framed paw impression for the grandparents. Paw prints and fur only happen if you ask before cremation, so raise it with the provider on day one.
go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, or look at how readers voted in our polls, See what each option includes on our services page. If you live between Highland and Carmel, Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, either page applies. Every other community in Indiana, and all of the United States, is listed too.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
If water cremation (aquamation) were offered near you, would you choose it?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What kind of tree or plant would you choose?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Memorial tree finder
Pick a tree for a planting urn that suits your climate, space and pet.
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
Questions people ask
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Highland?
Usually yes. Munster is about 2 miles away, Schererville is about 4 miles away and Lansing is about 5 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
How does Highland's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Highland, with average highs around 84°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March, November and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Is Highland big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 8,600 Highland households keep a dog or cat and around 720 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 23,409), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Will I have to travel to Chicago to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Chicago (roughly 25 miles from Highland) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
Can I plant my pet's ashes in winter in Highland?
Not usually, if the ground is frozen. Keep the ashes indoors until spring, when the soil has thawed and drained, or plant in early autumn with several weeks of open ground before hard frosts. Winter is a good time to mix the ashes with compost in a covered tub and let the blend rest before planting.
Can I plant a tree directly on my pet's ashes in Highland?
It's better not to. Cremated remains have a very high pH, around 11.7[11], and they're high in sodium, so a solid layer of ash under the roots can yellow or kill a young tree. Mix the ashes through plenty of compost and soil across a wider area, test the pH, and plant once it has come down. There's no single mixing ratio that suits every pet and every soil.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Indiana's cremation rate at 56.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Gardening Know How advises letting an ash/soil-amendment mixture sit for at least 90 to 120 days before planting. Gardening Know How — Planting With Cremains: Is There a Safe Way to Bury Ashes, 2024.
- [7] Delaware Pet Aquamation charges $150–$450 for private aquamation by weight, from under 10 lb to 150 lb and over, including a standard urn. Delaware Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [8] Communal aquamation at the same Delaware provider costs $50–$225 by weight. Delaware Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [9] Private pet aquamation costs about 2.5 times communal aquamation at the same provider. Our estimate: mean of tier ratios 150/50, 200/75, 250/100, 350/150, 450/225. How we calculate.
- [10] Each shelter-animal flame cremation emits about 31 kg CO2e on average. Our estimate: 19,000 t CO2e / 607,000 animals. How we calculate.
- [11] Cremated remains have a very high pH of approximately 11.7, which is toxic to plants without amendment. Larkspur Conservation — Giving Cremated Remains a New Life Through Science, 2024.
Tell us about your pet and your garden
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.