Conservation Stories: Deb & Greg Walrath

Deb and Greg Walrath spent 30+ years dreaming of moving back to Bellingham. When that dream became a reality they did not want to spend all their free time maintaining a lawn.

The Walraths enrolled in the Homeowner Incentive Program (HIP) to convert large portions of their front, back, and side yards into native landscaping.

Whatcom County is a special place for many, including Deb and Greg Walrath. Deb grew up in Whatcom County, while her husband fell in love with the area during a college visit. After 30+ years, they made their dreams reality and were able to move home to Bellingham. While they loved their neighborhood and view of Lake Whatcom, they did not love maintaining their sloping lawn.

“Maintaining a lawn requires intention, planning, amendments for weed control, moss control, proper nutrients for healthy grass, etc. It requires mowing, trimming, raking up the dead stuff, and watering. That is not the way we want to spend our time.” – Deb Walrath, HIP Participant

After a couple of years struggling to keep their lawn alive, they received a postcard in the mail for the Homeowner Incentive Program (HIP), and jumped at the opportunity to turn their lawn into native landscaping. This program is a partnership between the City of Bellingham and Whatcom Conservation District to provide technical and financial assistance to homeowners in the Lake Whatcom watershed in converting their lawns to native landscaping.

“The native plants require very little water, and comparatively, very little maintenance. We don't have to fertilize, or fuss with the plants. They just do their thing which means we can spend more time doing the things that bring us enjoyment.”

Deb scheduled an onsite consultation with Whatcom CD’s Green Infrastructure Specialist, Katharine Kiendl. They walked together around the property talking about Deb’s goals and current frustration. Katharine suggested plants and materials, areas of the yard to convert, and connected Deb with a HIP approved contractor list who could implement the project.

Whatcom CD staff met with the Walraths to talk about their hopes for their yard. Gave them advise on what plants and materials to use, and reimbursed them for large portions of the landscaping costs.

“I know little to nothing about horticulture and relied heavily on Katharine and then our contractor to guide the process, choose the right plants, get the right mulch, do the installation and follow up care. They provided excellent support throughout the process, about two years and a half years now.”

Over the course of two years, their home became a garden oasis, that they could now enjoy time relaxing in rather than maintaining.

Even in the middle of August, Deb enjoys blooming flowers and visiting wildlife.

Today, the Walraths are beginning to reap the benefits of their transformed yard. They spend more time outside and have invited their neighbors and friends to join them. “We no longer have an enormous lawn to mow and manage! We receive many compliments from the neighbors about how good it looks, with interesting varieties of plants to look at. I don't have any favorite plants yet as they are not fully mature. What I do love is that they stagger in their blooming time so there is always new color to enjoy from early spring to late summer. And maybe fall and winter, too. We will see what this year brings.”

The native landscaping helps reduce pollutants from rainwater reach Lake Whatcom, keeping this popular recreation area and the source of Bellingham’s drinking water cleaner.

HIP is more than just reduced maintenance. All the landscaping projects reimbursed by HIP help improve water quality in Lake Whatcom. Lake Whatcom is created due to the bowl-like shape formed by the hills surrounding it. As rain falls, it feeds the lake, but any pollutants in yards or streets within the watershed may be washed into the lake with the rain. Native landscaping helps prevent pollutants before they reach Lake Whatcom. Along with the reduced maintenance the Waltrath’s love that their new yard also helps the lake. 

“I am of the perspective that we are caretakers of the land and what we do affects our own sustainability and that of future generations. We recently became grandparents and look forward to our little one visiting and experiencing a natural environment for all the explorations and adventures that come with childhood.”

You could also transform your yard with the HIP. All landowners within the City of Bellingham’s portion of the Lake Whatcom watershed may qualify for help and funding to install native landscaping, drainage upgrades like rain gardens, or other watershed-friendly property improvements!

 “I absolutely advocate for our neighbors to check out the HIP program. The benefit to the watershed benefits all of us. Having a reimbursement program is really helpful, too, as we might not have embarked on this project without it.”