Bio urns and eco memorials in Ankeny
Roughly 2,400 Ankeny families say goodbye to a dog or cat each year, by our count. A living memorial is one way to mark it. This guide explains how to make one that actually grows.
- When to plant in your season
- How much ash your urn must hold
- Aquamation providers in your area
Ankeny, Iowa
Living memorials in Ankeny: the local picture
In a young suburb where many families bought their first house with a yard, memorials often go outdoors: a flat stone near the patio, a shrub planted over a biodegradable urn, or a small plaque set in a garden border. Others keep things indoors with an urn, a framed paw print or a pendant. Nothing is lost by leaving the ashes in the provider's box until the family agrees.
Outdoor markers in Ankeny face months of frost and thaw. Cast concrete and resin chip and crack, while granite and bronze stay sound. Newer lots are often graded clay with little topsoil, so set a stone on a gravel bed to keep it level, and check where sprinklers and buried utility lines run before digging for a marker or tree. Call the free locate line first.
Most families in and around Ankeny 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.
Ankeny is home to about 77,833 people, the 5th-largest of the 27 Iowa communities we cover. Des Moines, roughly 10 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Ankeny run from there.
If you want to compare providers, look at Johnston (7 miles), Altoona (8 miles) and Des Moines (10 miles, a larger centre). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
28,500
Ankeny: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
77,833 ÷ 2.5 = 31,133 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 28,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
2,400
Ankeny families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
28,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 2,400 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.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
How Iowa feels about cremation
The human cremation rate in Iowa sits around 63.6%[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 Iowa number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Ankeny, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Choosing the right month to plant in Ankeny
Early spring in Ankeny is when nurseries sell bare-root trees, often at a lower price than trees in pots. They need planting quickly, as soon as the ground can be dug after January, February, March, November and December, which fits well with ashes that have waited through the winter. Have the soil blend ready beforehand, soak the roots for an hour, and plant on a calm, overcast day.
Cold winters narrow the choice of tree in Ankeny, where January lows average about 14°F. Pick species that are fully hardy locally: native trees, or ornamentals a nearby nursery rates for your zone. A tender tree from a warmer region may survive one mild winter and die in the next. Hardy flowering shrubs are a good fallback if you have less space.
Adding up the cost of a bio urn memorial in Ankeny
It helps to compare a planted memorial with the alternatives. A pet cemetery burial for a dog averages about $831[6] in the US, which by our estimate is around 3.2 times the national average for private cremation[7]. Private cremation plus a bio urn and a sapling in your own Ankeny garden usually comes in far below a cemetery plot, and there are no yearly maintenance fees.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Iowa: Iowa costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What Iowa allows for ashes, in general terms
Two questions cover most situations in Iowa: who owns or manages this land or water, and have they said yes? For your own garden, the answer is you. For a rented home, it's your landlord, in writing. For parks and public water, it's the relevant agency. For a relative's garden, it's them, and it's worth agreeing that the tree stays even if the house is sold.
The official Iowa local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Ankeny.
The rules that apply across Iowa (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Iowa page. Ankeny may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
What to do first, and what can wait for the right season
- Take your time. Nothing about a bio urn is urgent. Arrange cremation first and collect the ashes when they're ready; planting can wait weeks or months.
- Ask for individual cremation, by flame or by water, so you know the ashes going into the ground are your pet's alone. A plain box is enough when a display urn isn't part of the plan.
- Check how much ash you have. Many kits are sized for a set volume, and a large dog's ashes may not all fit.
- Choose the place and the tree together. Think about sun, space, underground pipes and whether you'll still live there in ten years.
- Mix, don't layer. Blend the ashes through plenty of compost and soil, let the mix rest if you can and test the pH.
- Plant in the right season, whatever that is in Ankeny, soak the roots and mulch a wide circle.
- Mark the spot using a modest stone or a garden tag, and write the planting date down where it won't get lost.
Keeping the memorial alive in Ankeny
Ankeny households often include grown children living elsewhere in the Des Moines metro or across the country. Dividing ashes lets everyone keep something: a main urn at home, keepsake vials, or cremation jewelry for those far away. Nose prints, paw prints and snipped fur have to be arranged while your pet's body is still with the provider, so raise them on the first call.
go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, or compare your instinct with the poll results, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services. More local pages: Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, West Des Moines and Des Moines, the Iowa overview and every city in the United States.
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.
Would you consider releasing your pet's ashes in water?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If water cremation (aquamation) were offered near you, would you choose it?
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
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Ankeny?
January, February, March, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 86°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Ankeny?
The closest communities we cover are Johnston (about 7 miles), Altoona (about 8 miles) and Des Moines (about 10 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Ankeny too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Why does the Ankeny page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 63.6%[5] of Iowa residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Roughly how many pets die in Ankeny each year?
Our estimate is around 2,400. It comes from Ankeny's population (about 77,833), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 28,500 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
How long can I keep pet ashes before planting them?
As long as you like. Cremated remains don't break down or spoil in a sealed container, so a planting can happen next month, next year or after a move to a house with a garden. What does break down is a biodegradable urn, so keep the ashes in their original container and only transfer them into the bio urn shortly before planting.
Is it safe to plant a fruit tree with my pet's ashes?
Cremated remains are mostly bone minerals, and once they're thoroughly blended into plenty of compost and garden soil, many gardeners grow fruit trees over them. The high pH and salt are the real concern for the tree, so dilute generously and test the pH. If eating fruit from the memorial feels wrong to anyone in your family, choose an ornamental tree instead.
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 Iowa's cremation rate at 63.6% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for pet cemetery burial of a dog at $831 (range $659-$1,513). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] US pet cemetery burial for a dog costs about 3.2x a private cremation ($831 vs $260 national averages). Our estimate: 831 / 260 = 3.20. How we calculate.
- [8] U.S. pet flame cremations emit on the order of 47,000 t CO2e a year. Our estimate: 1.5M pet cremations x 31.3 kg CO2e. How we calculate.
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