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closePast an unassuming driveway and a quaint twig-lined gate is a lush green wonderland that Chris Haulgren calls her garden.
"People come into the garden and they say it's like a secret garden," she says. "It's peaceful."
But it didn't start out that way. When Chris and Frank Haulgren bought their Columbia neighborhood home almost 25 years ago, it was actually quite bland.
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CREATE YOUR OWN SECRET GARDEN
Bellingham gardener Chris Haulgren gives some tips to create a personal, private garden.
- Find interesting fences. "You need that sense of 'Where is it me?' " she says. Her garden includes fences made with wood, wrought iron and stained glass for extra texture.
- Utilize the vertical space a fence can provide. "Since so many gardens are small, you need that space. We have so many things that go up."
- Take a space and learn what you like. "If you keep coming back to certain colors or flowers, find those preferences. Mine is orange."
- Garden tours are a great way to see ideas in action in your climate. Then you can adapt them for your own space and tastes.
- Get some bigger items, such as trees, into the garden. But think about them in the long term as well because a small tree could grow to overwhelm your garden.
- Make it visual from the house so you can enjoy it. "Just try to find something you love in your garden for every month."
"There was nothing," she says. "It was just grass. I had maybe 10 plants the first year that someone gave me. ...It's been a nibbling process over the years."
But she's been building it up since then, adding something here and there to create a secluded space for her family and her cats. Today gardening fans can get in on Haulgren's secret space during the Relay for Life garden tour, which will run until 5 p.m. and feature several homes in the Columbia neighborhood.
Though many Bellingham transplants might bemoan the gloomy Northwest weather, for Haulgren it's a temperate luxury compared to her former Chicago digs. She describes the weather there as, "really cold, really up and down, really full of early frosts."
"Coming from the Midwest, where so much of the year you can't garden, I found I wanted to do a four-season garden," she says. "I even do gardening in January and February."
To create a garden that's beautiful year-round, she uses lots of foliage and textures to add interest even when flowers aren't in season. During the tour, her yard will feature glass and metal pieces from her employer, A Lot of Flowers in Fairhaven, as well as her own vivid piece by local artist Ben Mann.
"This year I've been trying to incorporate art," she says. "Either art that's meaningful or art I've made or art I love."
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Caregivers
The Courtyard -
Accounts Receivable - Contracts Manager
Sicklesteel Cranes, Inc. -
Finance Director
WTA -
Research & Development Engineer
Samson Rope -
Contracts Assistant, Financial Services
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
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