Mark the life of your four-legged friend with a garden grave and a special plant

We lost one of our dogs recently, a 14-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Coco Chanel. We had inherited her from my late mother-in-law and she brought with her all the airs and graces of a pedigree dog. She spent most of her time lying around snoozing.

On the sad last visit to the vet, he was kindness itself having nursed her through a few false alarms when jabs of steroids worked wonders.

After putting her to sleep, he advised we go home with her, bury her and at some stage plant a rose or other shrub in that spot to remember her by.

So that’s exactly what we did. We put her in an area of the flower garden where we already have a bench dedicated to her previous owner.

So now Coco is sleeping, surrounded by beautiful flowers in a place she can always be remembered.

The next project for me is to decide what plant would be appropriate to celebrate Coco’s personality and it got me thinking in general about what to do with pets and what should you plant to remember them.

Pet graveyards are a constant source of wonder, sometimes seen in stately homes.

The one at Powerscourt Gardens, just up the road from me in County Wicklow, is one of that estate’s most treasured attractions – rows of little headstones with names and dates.

Pet cemeteries can be an expensive route, so what are the regulations for burying pets at home?

You are permitted to bury small domestic pets, such as cats and dogs,