On the day I visit Sherry Donald, she invites me to her open backyard and we have a seat at the picnic table. Her property is a bit removed from the Birch Bay marina, and she appreciates that it’s less foggy and windy there.
After Sherry and her husband moved from Arizona to Birch Bay Village in early 2024, she started focusing on the landscaping of her home. Sherry took the Washington State University Whatcom County Extension Gardening Green course in spring 2024, and I am here to get an update on her sustainable landscaping efforts.
It was concern about climate change that initially motivated Sherry to embrace sustainable landscaping. And having recently retired, she found she had more time to learn.
For Sherry’s property, sustainable landscaping that keeps fertilizers, pesticides and eroded soils from getting into the water will make a big difference because a nearby wetland area feeds into Birch Bay.
“It feels good to do what we can,” she said.
Through the Gardening Green course, Sherry learned about the Neighborhood Native Landscaping Program, which is a partnership between Whatcom County, Whatcom Conservation District and the Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management District. The program helps clusters of landowners convert lawn into native shrubs, perennials and groundcovers, creating beautiful, low-maintenance landscapes that protect water quality and improve habitat. By chance, Sherry learned that a neighbor was also interested in the program and they rallied other neighbors to apply.
The Whatcom Conservation District prepared the front yard by laying cardboard and a thick layer of wood mulch to kill the lawn. Sherry and her son also installed a dry creek bed that curves diagonally across the mulch to create structure in the otherwise blank slate. Nearby, some native salal is biding time in a nursery pot. She bought it before learning that she and her neighbors had been selected for the Neighborhood Native Landscaping Program and plans to find an appropriate place for it when the planting is finished.
Most of the new landscaping will go in the front yard. In the back, she’s keeping some lawn for the dogs but has created topography along the fence line with four-way soil mix and will add native evergreens there. Snowberry hides the road adjacent to her property during the summer, but in the winter the road is visible and loud. The evergreens will provide a better buffer once they grow.
Besides being connected with native landscaping program, Sherry said what she found most helpful about the Gardening Green course was the opportunity to network with other classmates and learn about the free local and online resources, including the Master Gardener volunteers, who provide education on sound gardening practices.
Since the native landscaping course, Whatcom Conservation District returned to help Sherry and her neighbors install hundreds of native plants in a one-day planting party. A total of 160 plants were planted in Sherry’s yard. She’s excited about the evolution of her landscaping, and she feels as though she has the resources to keep going.
How to participate:
WSU Whatcom County Extension will hold its in-person Gardening Green course in Birch Bay starting Friday, April 25. The five-week course will be held 1-3 p.m. every Friday at Birch Bay Activity Center, 7511 Gemini Street. The class costs $42 for soil testing and requires up to four hours of homework per week.
A live instruction Gardening Green course will also be held online via Zoom starting Thursday, April 24. The five-week course will be held 6-7:30 p.m. every Thursday for the first four sessions, with the last session held in person from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 17. The class costs $42 for soil testing.
To sign up for the Gardening Green courses, visit bit.ly/3SMhCkB.
The Neighborhood Native Landscaping Program is still recruiting Birch Bay area residents who live in Point Whitehorn and off of Selder Road to participate this spring. Groups that have several neighbors interested in participating are more likely to be selected. For more information and to fill out an interest form, visit bit.ly/4j7Vk7i.
Cheryl Lovato Niles is the water resources educator at WSU Whatcom County Extension.
