Tree, garden and water memorials in Short Hills
About 430 dogs and cats are lost in Short Hills 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.
- Options for renters and apartments
- Water release rules in plain words
- No obligation, we reply by email
Short Hills, New Jersey
Where a living memorial fits in Short Hills
Large gardens in Short Hills leave room for more ambitious memorials: a carved stone set in a flower border, a bench with an engraved plaque, or a flowering cherry planted over the ashes. Indoors, a fine wood or bronze urn sits well in a traditional home. Ashes can be divided between several pieces; ask the provider when making arrangements, so each portion comes back sealed and labeled.
Because frost lasts from December through February here, spring is the natural moment to set a garden memorial. Granite and bronze weather well; lighter materials may fade or crack over time. A tree or shrub planted with the ashes can become a living memorial that grows alongside the family's memories, changing color with each season. Pick a spot with enough light, as wooded lots here can be heavily shaded.
Many homes around Short Hills rely on a septic system, and tree roots love the moist soil over a drain field. Keep a memorial tree well away from the tank and the leach lines, and choose a smaller shrub if space near the house is tight. Your septic contractor or the permit plan for the property will show where the lines run.
Short Hills is home to about 14,000 people, the 58th-largest of the 58 New Jersey communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Newark, about 8 miles (13 km) away, which is where some providers serving Short Hills are based.
Our pages for Summit (3 miles), Westfield (6 miles, a larger centre) and East Orange (6 miles, a larger centre) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Short Hills as well.
Our estimate
5,150
How many dog- or cat-owning households Short Hills has (estimate)
How we calculated this
14,000 ÷ 2.5 = 5,600 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 5,150. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
430
dog and cat deaths per year in Short Hills, our estimate
How we calculated this
5,150 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 430 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 American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Why cremation culture in New Jersey shapes your options
Cremation and burial are both familiar in New Jersey, where about 56.5%[5] of people are cremated. For many families that means a pet's aftercare starts with a question of tradition: bury in the yard as earlier generations did, or cremate and keep the ashes. A bio urn sits happily between the two. It returns the ashes to the earth like a burial, but without a large grave, and it can be planted in a spot you choose later.
That New Jersey rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Short Hills only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
What Short Hills's climate means for a living memorial
A Short Hills winter is a useful waiting room. With 3 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.
Snow can hide a young memorial tree and the damage done around it. In Short Hills, where lows average about 26°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.
Budgeting for a living memorial in Short Hills
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 Short Hills depend on who offers it locally, so ask for a written quote that says whether the ashes come back and in what container.
The New Jersey price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Land, water and permission in New Jersey
If you live under a homeowners' association, a co-op board or a tenancy agreement in New Jersey, its rules can matter more than any public law. Many restrict new trees, digging near shared pipes or heavy pots on balconies. A quick read of the rules, or one email to the manager, tells you whether a tree, a shrub bed or a container memorial is the right fit.
The official New Jersey local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Short Hills.
For New Jersey's rules on burying a pet at home or scattering ashes, see the New Jersey guide. Local rules in Short Hills can be stricter than the state's, especially in homeowners' associations and rentals.
What to do first, and what can wait for the right season
- If you find your pet has died at home, lift them carefully onto a blanket or towel and lay them in the coolest part of the house, then phone the vet or a nearby pet crematory. Most can either pick them up or point you to a drop-off place.
- Say you want individual cremation, then mention that the ashes are going into a bio urn. Saying so up front keeps the provider from offering a communal service where nothing comes back.
- Keep the collar, a tag and a little fur before your pet leaves the house. These can go into the planting later, or into a small keepsake box.
- Leave the memorial decisions for another week. Choosing a tree the same night is too much to ask of anyone.
- When the ashes arrive, open the box once to see how much there is and how the inner bag is sealed, then put the lid back and keep it somewhere dry.
- Use our [memorial tree finder](/tools/memorial-tree-finder) once you feel ready, and plan the planting for a calm weekend in the right season.
Keeping your pet's memory growing in Short Hills
Some Short Hills families commission a memorial portrait, a small sculpture or a piece of glass art that incorporates ashes. Others prefer paw prints or fur clippings set in a frame. Custom pieces can take weeks or months, so there's no need to decide right away. Clay prints and fur snips, though, can only happen before cremation, so raise them early.
run the numbers with the free planning tools, there are guides for the big decisions and articles for the details, The services page is the place to compare what is included, or look at how readers voted in our polls. Close to Short Hills we also cover Clifton, Elizabeth, Jersey City and Trenton; the full list for New Jersey and for the United States is a click away.
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 you rent or might move, how would you handle a memorial planting?
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
How many pet owners live in Short Hills?
By our estimate, about 5,150 households in Short Hills have at least one dog or cat, and around 430 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 14,000, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Short Hills?
Usually yes. Summit is about 3 miles away, Westfield is about 6 miles away and East Orange is about 6 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 Short Hills's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Short Hills, with average highs around 87°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Why does the Short Hills 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 56.5%[5] of New Jersey residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Can I plant a tree directly on my pet's ashes in Short Hills?
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.
How long does it take to get ashes back for planting?
Most private cremations return ashes within one to two weeks, and water cremation cycles themselves take 12–20 hours[12], so allow a similar time. In a smaller place, if the cremation happens in a larger centre such as Newark, it may take a little longer. Planting can wait, so there's no need to rush.
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 New Jersey'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] About 59 million U.S. pet-owning households may be open to eco-friendly aftercare options. Our estimate: 86.9M pet households x 68% interested in green funeral options. 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.
- [12] A PET-550 aquamation cycle takes 12–20 hours for a single pet and 14–20 hours for segregated or communal cycles, with up to 14 compartments. Bio-Response Solutions — PET-550 Aquamation System product page, 2026.
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.