Burying a pig in a planter

KathT

KathT

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I have, up til now, had my pigs cremated, but the cost has gone through the roof and it’s now become too expensive. I know people bury their pigs in planters for the garden, and I want to do this for Vlad, who I had to have put to sleep this evening. I also have several pots of guinea pig ashes that I will also inter with him, so that they are all together. Can anyone offer advice on the best way to bury him please? And what sort of plants are best to use - annuals or perennials? I’m sure I recently read about it on the forum but cannot find it now I need it. Any help gratefully received. Thanks.
 
My Bill and Ted have both got their own planters. It’s lovely as I always have a chat with them when out in the garden. I‘ll try find a photo of them (my old iPad died so I’m still trying to get all my photos back from the iCloud all 3,000 of them)
I tend to buy annuals such as primroses, polyanthus, violets, sea pinks, dianthus and snowdrops and those tiny daffodils.
 
Bill & Ted said:
My Bill and Ted have both got their own planters. It’s lovely as I always have a chat with them when out in the garden. I‘ll try find a photo of them (my old iPad died so I’m still trying to get all my photos back from the iCloud all 3,000 of them)
I tend to buy annuals such as primroses, polyanthus, violets, sea pinks, dianthus and snowdrops and those tiny daffodils.
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I thought about annuals but I’d worry about digging him up. I suppose if I buy a really big planter I shouldn’t get anywhere near his body once buried. I will probably talk to him too, and all the ashes of the others. Did you wrap their bodies in anything before burying? He‘s currently in the garage wrapped in kitchen towel.
 
I'm so sorry to hear about Vlad. I have forgetmenots and tete a tete daffodil bulbs in most of my planters. The big planter we burried Willow and Bracken in has a fir tree in it. Now the tree has got much larger than we realised it would get (was supposed to be minature) I regret planting that as I'd like to take it out but don't feel I can. Rusty's pot was new in the photo so the forgetmenots hadn't grown yet.
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Mine were mostly wrapped in a piece of towel. Spike was in his favourite little fleece house. I use shallow rooting plants, the daffodil bulbs are small and only need to be just under the surface. I've pushed a few calendula seeds into the top of the soil this year. They will ge some colour in the summer when the forgetmenots are over. I put stones on top when the piggies are freshly burried to stop anything digging them up again.
 
piggieminder said:
I'm so sorry to hear about Vlad. I have forgetmenots and tete a tete daffodil bulbs in most of my planters. The big planter we burried Willow and Bracken in has a fir tree in it. Now the tree has got much larger than we realised it would get (was supposed to be minature) I regret planting that as I'd like to take it out but don't feel I can. Rusty's pot was new in the photo so the forgetmenots hadn't grown yet.
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Ahh, thanks for the pictures, those look lovely! I thought about a small conifer but like you, I thought I’d regret it once it grew bigger. So I think I will stick to annuals and bulbs as suggested by you and Bill & Ted. I love daffodils and the mini ones great!
 
piggieminder said:
Mine were mostly wrapped in a piece of towel. Spike was in his favourite little fleece house. I use shallow rooting plants, the daffodil bulbs are small and only need to be just under the surface. I've pushed a few calendula seeds into the top of the soil this year. They will ge some colour in the summer when the forgetmenots are over. I put stones on top when the piggies are freshly burried to stop anything digging them up again.
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Thanks for the tip on putting stones on - the cats do have a tendency to dig in pots - and birds too!
 
The tree wasn't supposed to get bigger than this, it's completely taken over the pot now. I cut it down to about half it's height this year but it's too big and not what I'd intended at all.
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This was our first pot from 6 years ago, it's huge and would be too heavy to take with us if we moved with it planted up. That was about the size that tree was supposed to stay at! I've stuck to normal sized patio pots since as we have lost more piggies.
 
I'm sorry for your loss @KathT
I was given flower seeds by the vets but can’t for the life of me remember where I put them! So I put in some Flowers my daughter gave me for Mother’s Day. Can I ask if you had maggots in your pots after planting?
 
KathT said:
I thought about annuals but I’d worry about digging him up. I suppose if I buy a really big planter I shouldn’t get anywhere near his body once buried. I will probably talk to him too, and all the ashes of the others. Did you wrap their bodies in anything before burying? He‘s currently in the garage wrapped in kitchen towel.
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Yes I wrapped their little bodies in a cotton tea towel. Here is Bill’s pot, excuse all the stuff around him, we have just dug out a huge Yucca to extend our patio so everywhere is a bit if a mess. It’s about 18”-20” which has served him very well, we placed him fairly near to the bottom, about 3” above crocks and soil so we didn’t did him up. I find it so comforting, nosing they are both near. You could plant a shrub instead if you won’t want to dig, I thought of azaleas or something that won’t get too big
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@Siikibam I’ve never had maggots in either pot. Maggots (the horsefly/bluebottle type tend to lay their eggs on rotting meat that is generally lying around or food thats not bagged and disposed of properly. Their bodies are broken down by worms, microbes and the natural decay process. Never experienced any smells, they’ve been absolutely fine
 
Siikibam said:
I'm sorry for your loss @KathT
I was given flower seeds by the vets but can’t for the life of me remember where I put them! So I put in some Flowers my daughter gave me for Mother’s Day. Can I ask if you had maggots in your pots after planting?
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I’ve never buried a pig in a planter before so I don’t know if maggots come out? Does anyone else know? Thanks.
 
Siikibam said:
I'm sorry for your loss @KathT
I was given flower seeds by the vets but can’t for the life of me remember where I put them! So I put in some Flowers my daughter gave me for Mother’s Day. Can I ask if you had maggots in your pots after planting?
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I have several packets of seeds from past deaths so I might see if I can find them - good call Siikibam!
 
KathT said:
I have several packets of seeds from past deaths so I might see if I can find them - good call Siikibam!
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I got forgetmenots and a wild seed mix from my vets. The forgetmenots are lovely as they self seed around the garden every year. The wild flowers seeds where’s quite as successful but I did get some cornflowers and poppy the first year
 
I have done this also. I wrapped the piggies body in some cloth and buried it deep in a big pot covering it well and planting shallow rooted plants like annual bedding plants I can keep replacing and which wont disturb anything. I never had a smell from it or seen anything. I added other piggies' ashes in layers before filling it completely with soil. I had kept them in scatter tubes in the house before hand and decided it would be nice to add them so they were all together as a special momento.
 
KathT said:
I have, up til now, had my pigs cremated, but the cost has gone through the roof and it’s now become too expensive. I know people bury their pigs in planters for the garden, and I want to do this for Vlad, who I had to have put to sleep this evening. I also have several pots of guinea pig ashes that I will also inter with him, so that they are all together. Can anyone offer advice on the best way to bury him please? And what sort of plants are best to use - annuals or perennials? I’m sure I recently read about it on the forum but cannot find it now I need it. Any help gratefully received. Thanks.
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Hi

I am on my third large shared burial planter but I have piggies buried in smaller plant pots as well. Pioden and Gethin are sharing a porch pot with a skimmia on top as I didn't feel like rushing out for a new large pot without having had my booster pre-Christmas.
Ideally you use peat-free ericaceous compost as that will speed up the process and choose plants that thrive in that kind of soil. I would initially choose annual plants with shallower roots and then something more permanent like a pato rose or an evergreen plant later on.

You can find pictures of some of my pots in the grieving guide (see chapter burial): Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best! It is always very sad. :(
 
Just another option, of course it depends why you want planters but I decided against for various reasons. I didn’t want to put Timmy in the borders in case I accidentally disinterred him later so I lifted a patch of lawn and popped him there. I know where he is, the grass is longer than any other bit of the garden 🥰
 
Tigermoth said:
Just another option, of course it depends why you want planters but I decided against for various reasons. I didn’t want to put Timmy in the borders in case I accidentally disinterred him later so I lifted a patch of lawn and popped him there. I know where he is, the grass is longer than any other bit of the garden 🥰
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I didn’t want to bury him in the garden - or place the others ashes there as I know we will move one day, and I will feel guilty about leaving them behind. Hence the pots, which I can take with me when we do eventually go.
 
Tigermoth said:
Just another option, of course it depends why you want planters but I decided against for various reasons. I didn’t want to put Timmy in the borders in case I accidentally disinterred him later so I lifted a patch of lawn and popped him there. I know where he is, the grass is longer than any other bit of the garden 🥰
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Unfortunately, that is not an option in my garden; the body will be dug up again by cats or even a fox - even if I dig down well over a foot! I would have to cover the hole with a large paving slab for a few weeks. :(

Planters are the safest option for me; especially in view of my numbers and my turnover. I have the one big planter 'in process' covered with weighed down bits of leftover decking (although still allowing rain passing through) and then plant over the filled ones first with sedum while they gradually settle and only later on, after about five years or so, will I plant something more permanent in there.
 
KathT said:
I didn’t want to bury him in the garden - or place the others ashes there as I know we will move one day, and I will feel guilty about leaving them behind. Hence the pots, which I can take with me when we do eventually go.
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Absolutely. I'm heartless 😂
 
Tigermoth said:
Just another option, of course it depends why you want planters but I decided against for various reasons. I didn’t want to put Timmy in the borders in case I accidentally disinterred him later so I lifted a patch of lawn and popped him there. I know where he is, the grass is longer than any other bit of the garden 🥰
Click to expand...
You could always plant some small spring bulbs in his spot like those pretty little daffodils or crocus, snowdrops.. They only need planting an 1” or so down and they will not effect mowing the lawn as it’s early spring
 
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