Frequently Asked Questions

About Reflection Park

For an introduction to Reflection Park, read about our mission and our team.

  • Yes, Reflection Park is open for natural burial services. We welcome you to visit the grounds, attend an open house, or contact us for immediate or advance arrangements.

  • Our address is 16621 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20905.

  • The burial ground is open to visitors every day of the year from 8:30am to sunset.

  • We are currently renovating our future office building. However, we can conduct all meetings and transactions virtually.

  • Yes. All faiths and identities are welcome at Reflection Park. To honor specific religious practices, the park includes three sections: Peace (open to all religious, spiritual, and non-affiliated traditions), Shalom (for Jewish families, grave foot points to Jerusalem), and Salaam (for Muslim families, grave side faces Mecca).

  • We recognize the eco-friendly intentions behind more recently developed approaches, such as alkaline hydrolysis (aka water cremation) and natural organic reduction. Reflection Park focuses on natural, full-body burial in accordance with our mission to preserve and promote natural spaces, embrace nature’s cycles of renewal, and uphold traditions that honor a simple return to the earth. We also allow burial of existing cremated remains.

  • Yes. Reflection Park maintains a perpetual care fund to provide for the care and stewardship of the grounds, roads, and buildings in perpetuity.

  • Yes. Reflection Park is licensed and regulated by the Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight. We are also certified by the Green Burial Council.

About Natural Burial

For an introduction to natural burial practices, see our dedicated page and key practices.

  • To support a natural return to the earth, we do not allow embalming. The naturally occurring bacteria in and on our bodies play an important role in gentle decomposition, and embalming—even with “green” fluids—disrupts that process.

  • We acknowledge your generosity and willingness to contribute to science and education. Bodies donated for these purposes are typically embalmed and cremated. We accommodate burial of cremated remains. In rarer cases, bodies donated to science may be returned without cremation. We can accommodate burial of such bodies as long as our interment requirements—including no embalming—are met. The donation organization should tell you how your body will be handled and what will be returned to your family.

  • We dig our graves between 3.5 feet to 4.9 feet, depending on the family’s burial tradition and whether a double-depth interment is planned. (The popular notion of a grave “6 feet under” is a historical relic and is no longer regularly practiced).

  • Yes. Our graves are dug to accommodate at least 2 feet of soil cover at ground level. We also create a gentle mound of earth over the grave immediately after burial that will slowly reduce over time. This exceeds Green Burial Council recommendations and is more than enough to prevent attraction by wildlife.

  • Yes. Here is a list of known natural (green) burial cemeteries in the US and Canada. These cemeteries are either completely natural or hybrid, meaning that they are conventional cemeteries with natural sections.

  • Yes. There is no law that requires vaults or grave liners for burial. Conventional cemeteries typically use these outer burial containers for various reasons, including reduced land maintenance costs and increased number of graves for a given area.

About Burial Planning

Read our step-by-step Burial Planning Guide to see what a natural burial might look like.

  • A grave plot is the piece of land in which a grave is dug and a body or cremains are buried.

    An interment right is the exclusive right to use a grave plot for a burial.

    Someone might say that they want to “buy a grave plot.” However, cemeteries do not actually sell grave plots in the way that land is typically sold. Rather, cemeteries sell the rights to use grave plots for burial, while the grave plots themselves remain the property of the cemetery.

  • Specific grave spaces are assigned at the time of need. When an interment right is purchased in advance of need, the right is assigned to a section of the cemetery (i.e., Peace, Salaam, Shalom) but not to a specific grave plot. At the time of need, the owner of the interment right (typically your next of kin) will choose the most fitting grave plot from those available.

    If you make advance arrangements, you can express your preference for a specific grave plot, and we will do our best to accommodate your wishes to the extent we are able.

  • Yes. We welcome families at the time of need with the same care, coordination, and support as we offer for advance arrangements.

  • No—there is no need to rush. Natural decomposition can be slowed for weeks with simple cooling. Refrigeration, gel packs, and dry ice are most common, allowing time for thoughtful arrangements and goodbyes.

  • Reflection Park is a natural burial ground; that is, a cemetery that provides natural burial services.

    Funeral homes assist families in many ways when someone has died, including completing legal paperwork, body preparation, providing viewing services, and transport.

    Both cemeteries and funeral homes typically offer services at the time of death as well as advance planning.

    Reflection Park collaborates closely with funeral homes. Many funeral homes are Green Burial Council–certified. When a funeral home is new to natural burial, we work with them to ensure a smooth and meaningful natural burial.

  • In the state of Maryland, it is not legally required to work with funeral homes—but they provide important services that can help families when a loved one has died.

    Families may choose the level of support that works best for them. Here are some alternatives when a family wishes to take on some funeral arrangements themselves:

    • Blended Funeral: Sometimes families wish to hold a funeral at home, but seek the support of a funeral home for specific needs like filing required paperwork, cooling of the body, or transport.

    • Home Funeral: Sometimes families wish to handle all arrangements themselves. (See the National Home Funeral Alliance for more information). 

  • We don’t set a limit on attendance. If you anticipate a large gathering, we’ll plan with you for parking, accessibility, traffic management, and comfort.

  • No. Officiants and celebrants are welcome, but never required. We strive to make the burial process meaningful and personal for every family, and that will show up differently in each burial. Our staff is available before the graveside service to offer suggestions about format or readings, and also during the service to step in as necessary. We will take our cues from you and offer as much or as little support as needed or requested. The most important aspect of the process is your presence.

  • No. Although an engraved stone is included in the interment fee, it is not a requirement. If one prefers to forego a memorial stone, we may still place a small marker at the grave to aid in our recordkeeping.

About Cremains

  • Yes. We accommodate the burial of existing cremated remains.

  • We respect that individuals consider cremation for different reasons. If you are thinking about cremation in the future for yourself or a family member, please contact us to discuss your wishes further.

  • Cremains burial does not necessarily prevent land from being used for residential or commercial purposes. That is precisely one of the reasons why we embrace full body burial. Doing so protects the land from being used for other purposes so it can remain a natural space in perpetuity.

    In addition, cremains do not enrich the land like a full body. The process of cremation burns away virtually all the organic matter in a body, leaving highly alkaline and very salty bone fragments that offer little nutrition to vegetation.

    Full body burials, on the other hand, enrich the earth with nutrients that perpetuate the cycle of life.

  • Cremains are toxic to plants when applied on the surface due to their high alkalinity and salt content, particularly phosphate.

  • We bury cremains at a sufficient depth to avoid impacting plant roots. In addition, we add natural substances that manage sodium and phosphate release. In this way, we strive to balance our mission of environmental stewardship with our goal to accommodate families’ wishes.

  • Yes. Cremated remains may be interred alongside a full-body burial. The cremains may be from a human or household pet.

  • Each burial plot designated for cremains can hold the equivalent of 2 sets of human adult cremains.

About The Land

  • We love planting trees thoughtfully across the landscape, but not directly over a grave. Roots can be damaged when nearby graves are opened, and if a tree fails, we don’t want that loss associated with a loved one’s resting place. Instead, we plant and care for trees strategically throughout each burial section.

  • Conservation and woodland burial grounds often prioritize tree preservation with very low burial density. As a natural burial ground, Reflection Park balances land stewardship with the need to provide burial space—so we plan graves and plantings carefully to protect roots while serving families.

  • Each adult full body burial plot is 5 ft × 10 ft. The actual grave opening is about 3 ft × 7 ft. Following Green Burial Council guidance, we have up to a maximum of 600 full-body graves per acre.

  • Reflection Park sits within the watershed of the Patuxent River and Rocky Gorge reservoir, which supplies drinking water through the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). Thus, concerns about contamination of the water supply are understandable. Reflection Park shares this concern, as one of its core missions is environmental stewardship.

    The issue of impact on the reservoir and neighboring wells was examined in two public hearings for zoning approval on July 30, 2021 and more thoroughly on April 12-14, 2022. After both hearings, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (MCDEP) and WSSC each concluded that Reflection Park would not impact adversely on water quality. The more recent hearing involved extensive testimony that included a thorough hydrogeological analysis of the property. This analysis concluded that "contaminant release from burial sites at the proposed Reflection Park cemetery will not pose a health and safety risk to adjacent private properties, nearby streams or to the Rocky Gorge Reservoir”, and “any health and safety risks potentially associated with the proposed Reflection Park cemetery are no greater, and likely to be less, than the health and safety risks associated with contamination from nearby private septic systems.”

    MCDEP concurred in its response:

    “The information provided by the applicant used sound engineering and scientific principles to draw their conclusions that were site specific. Based on the soil testing, test pits, and perc test results, DEP does not anticipate any offsite impacts to surface water quality or groundwater quality (private drinking water wells) from the cemetery, and thus do not think any additional conditions be imposed on the conditional use. We also do not see the need for additional monitoring of surface water or ground water in the area in proximity to the cemetery.”

    WSSC’s response included these conclusions:

    “WSSC Water does not expect that the green burial ground proposed in CU 21-06 [the application number] will render the Rocky Gorge reservoir unsafe as a drinking water supply, now or in the future.”

    “WSSC Water does not expect that the green burial site will result in microbial contamination of the Duckett Reservoir.” [Duckett is another name for the Rocky Gorge Reservoir.]

    "WSSC Water does not recommend any additional conditions or monitoring requirements.”

Life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

—Kahlil Gibran