Walt grew up across Liberty Bay from Poulsbo, in a small community near Keyport (Pearson/Scandia) adjacent to his grandparents' homesteaded farm. He developed an immediate love of the outdoors and gardening became natural as he helped his mother develop flower beds and his father taught him about the growth habit of native trees.

After 4 yrs. in the U.S. Navy, Walt worked a few years for the Washington State Ferries before buying into a gas station dealership in Poulsbo. He owned and operated Walt's Chevron for 37 years.

His hobby became gardening, and he landscaped both his home acreage and the dealership lot -- developing a specialty in growing rhododendrons and azaleas. He found the Brinnon acreage in 1985 and spent weekends clearing and cleaning up the five acre property. He began by planting a few trees, including more than 500 rhodies from the Poulsbo property, and the "collection" grew with each passing year.

Walt possesses an innate sense of soil conditions and plant placement techniques that have enabled him to develop a truly unique private garden, hidden right in the heart of Brinnon until opened to the public several years ago during Shrimp Fest.

He enjoys using his riding lawnmowers, spending the time in meditation and imagining new gardening ideas. Every year sees new areas developed and plantings changed to fine-tune the displays. Walt has an eye for effectively using colors and textures, growth habit and unusual characteristics of plants.

If you enjoy talking gardening -- you'll enjoy meeting and getting to know Walt!

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