Growing something from the goodbye in Johnston
Johnston has an estimated 9,200 dog- or cat-owning households. When a planting or water memorial feels right for yours, here's what works in the local climate and what to ask before you buy.
- Trees matched to Johnston's climate
- Soil-safe planting method for ashes
- Real prices for bio urns and aquamation
Johnston, Iowa
Planning a greener goodbye in Johnston
Johnston's wooded lots invite natural memorials: a stone at the foot of an oak, a native dogwood planted above a compostable urn, a small bench in a shady corner. Families who'd rather keep things inside choose a walnut box for the den or a locket that holds a little ash. Waiting months to decide is perfectly normal, and nothing is lost by it.
Shade, leaf litter and freeze-thaw cycles are all hard on outdoor memorials in Johnston's wooded yards. Moss and damp can stain porous stone, and resin cracks in winter. Polished granite or bronze stays clean and legible longer, and a quick scrub each spring keeps it that way. Place a marker where fallen leaves won't bury it every autumn, and rake it clear before the first snow.
Horses, cattle, goats and sheep often share the land in the country around Johnston, and some trees are dangerous to them. Wilted red maple leaves are toxic to horses, and yew is poisonous to most livestock. If the memorial will stand near a pasture or fence line, ask a vet or the local extension office which species are safe for the animals that graze nearby.
Johnston is home to about 25,065 people, the 20th-largest of the 27 Iowa communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Des Moines, about 9 miles (14 km) away, which is where some providers serving Johnston are based.
Johnston sits within easy reach of Urbandale (5 miles), Clive (7 miles) and Ankeny (7 miles, a larger centre). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Johnston; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
9,200
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Johnston
How we calculated this
25,065 ÷ 2.5 = 10,026 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 9,200. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
770
dog and cat deaths per year in Johnston, our estimate
How we calculated this
9,200 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 770 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.
We built the this numbers from Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, and both are worth a look if you want the detail.
Cremation habits in Iowa, and what they mean for a bio urn
Faith shapes these choices in Iowa, where cremation covers about 63.6%[5] of deaths and burial much of the rest. Some traditions that prefer burial for people have no view on pets; others do. If this matters to anyone in your household, ask a faith leader you trust. A planting urn puts the ashes back into the ground, which many people find sits comfortably with a burial tradition.
That Iowa rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Johnston only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
What Johnston's climate means for a living memorial
Cold winters narrow the choice of tree in Johnston, 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.
Snow can hide a young memorial tree and the damage done around it. In Johnston, where lows average about 14°F in January, voles and rabbits chew bark under the snow line, and snowplows or shovels can snap a sapling. Put a tall stake beside the planting so you can find it, and fit a loose guard around the trunk before the first snow.
What a greener goodbye costs in Johnston
The container the ashes come back in can quietly add to the bill. One Virginia crematory, for example, sells private cremation at $189 with a temporary container and $225 with a wooden urn[6]. If you're planting, the plain option is all you need. Wooden pet urns alone run about $30–$150[7] in one national guide, money that could buy a good tree for your Johnston garden instead.
Prices for Johnston track the wider Iowa market, so use the Iowa price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Rules worth knowing in Iowa before you scatter
Rules change more often than most people realise, and many local policies about ashes were never written down at all. Treat any general guide for Iowa, including ours, as a starting point. Whoever looks after that particular field, park or shoreline is the one whose answer counts, so it's worth getting it by email where you can.
Not sure which office covers Johnston? The Iowa local government directory is the official list.
The rules that apply across Iowa (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Iowa page. Johnston may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
Your next steps, whatever your situation
- Take your time. There's no clock running on a bio urn. Sort out the cremation, bring the ashes home once they're released, and plant whenever you're ready, even months later.
- 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. Weigh up light, room to spread, buried pipes or cables, and whether you're likely to be at that address a decade from now.
- Mix, don't layer. Work the ashes evenly into plenty of soil and compost, give it a few weeks to settle where possible, and check the pH.
- Plant in the right season for Johnston, water deeply and mulch a wide ring around the base.
- Mark the spot using a modest stone or a garden tag, and write the planting date down where it won't get lost.
Remembering your pet in Johnston
Families in Johnston sometimes divide ashes between a household urn and keepsakes for grown children or grandparents. Glass art and cremation jewelry can each hold a small amount. A clay paw print is simple to arrange as long as you ask early. Some families hold back a portion for a planting once the ground thaws, often on the pet's birthday.
For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, or compare your instinct with the poll results, run the numbers with the free planning tools, look through our guides and the blog. Close to Johnston we also cover Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City and Sioux City; the full list for Iowa and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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What kind of tree or plant would you choose?
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If you rent or might move, how would you handle a memorial planting?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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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
Which nearby towns can I compare with Johnston?
The closest communities we cover are Urbandale (about 5 miles), Clive (about 7 miles) and Ankeny (about 7 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Johnston too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Is Johnston big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 9,200 Johnston households keep a dog or cat and around 770 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 25,065), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Will I have to travel to Des Moines to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Des Moines (roughly 9 miles from Johnston) 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.
Is cremation common in Iowa?
For people, yes: about 63.6%[5] of Iowa deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Johnston follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Is there water cremation for pets near Johnston?
It depends on whether a provider nearby has invested in the equipment. Smaller places rarely have their own, but some aquamation providers in larger centres such as Des Moines collect from vets across a wide area. Ask your vet whether they work with one. If not, a flame cremation followed by a bio urn still gives you a living memorial.
What happens to the memorial tree if I move away from Johnston?
It stays with the land, and ashes mixed into soil can't be recovered. If a move is possible, plant in a large container, plant at a relative's home, or keep a small portion of the ashes back for a future garden. Cuttings from many shrubs root easily, so you can take a piece of the plant with you.
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] Heavenly Paws Cremations in Chantilly, Virginia, sells private cremation packages at $189 (temporary container), $225 (wooden urn) and $300 (wooden photo urn), each including a paw print and fur clipping. Heavenly Paws Cremations – Packages, 2026.
- [7] Memorials.com puts wooden pet urns at $30–$150. Memorials.com – Pet Urn Cost Guide, 2025.
- [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.
Ask about aquamation near Johnston
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