Planting a fruit tree in a container, over cremated ashes.

I found a website offering a service earlier, where they provide a sapling, and some kind of magic soil, so a tree can be container planted on top of cremated ashes, and something in the soil they supply does something to counter the alkaline & salts in the remains.

Is there something off-the-shelf I can buy myself, to counter the PH, so I can basically just buy my own tree, a dwarf fruit tree, most likely, and buy my own (very large) container and treat some regular compost myself?

Thanks.

 

If you are okay eating it! Iron sulphate is digested by bacteria into sulphuric acid and is the most common acidifying additive. Perhaps a nice ornamental fruit tree for birds to eat and spread? They love pyracantha, rowan, hawthorne. Two varieties of flowering quince in one pot would be nice, and they make nice fragrant fruit when cross pollinated.

 

I assume the pot will be a reasonable size, if so I doubt the comparatively small amount of ashes would have a massive effect on the soil when mixed in.

 

The ashes for my mother came in a container about the size of a Pringles tube and were scattered in a nature reserve. Permission had to be obtained for this and was granted so long as it was in the area where dogs on leads were permitted as they didn't want the level of phosphate and other nutrients disturbed anywhere else.
Anything that claims "magic" sets my alarm bells ringing.
I think I would select a tree liked by all parties a suitable container for where you want to put it, with adequate drainage, preferably as large as you can manage.
I would use either a John Innes 3 compost or mix ordinary soil with peat free compost 50:50 and then mix in the ashes before planting.
Maybe keep back a small amount of ashes to scatter on the top of the pot with suitable words when you position the pot in it's final home.
If you do this the buffering capacity of the soil will keep the pH at a plant friendly level.

 

Personally I wouldn't plant a tree (or pretty much anything else) in a container that holds cremated ashes.

Container growing is not a permanent solution, and disturbing the resting place may feel sad or distressing.

A well selected tree in a very large container with good soil may give a decade of good growth, but that's about it.

Planting a tree in nature on the ashes will require permissions, but is a lovely thought.