A lovely way to remember a special person or family pet is to plant a tree or shrub in their memory and have a memorial plaque with their name, dates and perhaps a favourite phrase on it. Memorial tree plaques can also be used to commemorate events – a wedding, the birth of a child, a royal visit or a historic occasion, perhaps.
Botanical gardens often mark their benefactors’ gifts and thank long-serving volunteers in this way.
In fact, we have supplied commemorative tree plaques to the Edinburgh and Dawyck Botanical Gardens and to gardens open under Scotland’s Garden Scheme.
Materials
Obviously a tree plaque will be outside in all weathers, so both the plaque itself and whatever it’s fixed to have to be sturdy; the plaque also has to be still readable many years after the event or gift that’s being commemorated.
For this reason we recommend two metals for memorial tree plaques: bronze and stainless steel. It’s very much a question of your taste and the environment in which the plaque will be seen.
Bronze memorial tree plaques
Bronze is a classic material for outdoor plaques of all sorts. It’s very durable, looks ever better as it ages and remains legible throughout its life with no after-care. The bronze we use is 3mm thick high-quality metal. We patinate it to a dark colour, so it never looks brash and new.
Infilling the lettering with a pale colour such as white or cream makes your words stand out clearly against the dark background.
Another way to make the lettering stand out is to reverse etch it, so that the background is removed leaving the letters standing proud; it looks a bit different from most plaques and very elegant. We supply all plaques with appropriate fixings, and holes if you tell us where they need to be drilled.
Stainless steel memorial tree plaques
The other excellent metal for outdoor use is stainless steel, which makes much more modern-looking memorial tree plaques than bronze. If you want something that will be visible under the shade of a large tree it will also be very easy to see and to read.
We use marine-grade stainless steel 316 which, like our bronze, is 3mm thick. Because it’s marine quality, it’s perfect for use near the sea where the salt in the air, or wave splashes, would eventually damage the surface of bronze.
Like bronze, the lettering can be etched and coloured or reverse-etched, and will remain legible for as long as the plate exists. The surface can be either polished or brushed, whichever you prefer.
We can make plaques for you in any shape or size
The plaques can be made in any shape and size: our order form has standard sizes but if you want something different just ask. Memorial tree plaques are usually mounted on backing plates and supplied with stakes so that you can “plant” them near the tree. Again, if you want to mount them in a different way just let us know.
Bespoke tree plaques
All our plaques are bespoke, and we’re happy to discuss your individual requirements; we can also help with design and advice on mounting and siting your finished plaque. If you know what you want, use our simple online order form; otherwise just phone or email us and we can talk you through whatever you need.