Gary’s Garden Gate – A Passion for Forged Art in Tumwater

grays garden gates
Deb and Gary Waldherr opened their business, Gary's Garden Gate, out of their garage 17 years ago.
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By Doris Faltys

thurston first bankThere is so much to notice in the gravel yard outside the Gary’s Garden Gate shop, you might wonder what this Tumwater place really is all about. There is statuary large and small, an enormous decorative wrought iron garden house, many tall iron trellises, multiple bird baths, fountains, and a 15 foot tall suit of armor! Everything outside is forgotten, though, once you enter the main door and find yourself in a gift shop in which every inch is arrayed with unique items, mostly metal and totally captivating. This is not what I expected, but the surprise of it all is very fun.

Gary Waldherr and his wife Deb have owned and operated Gary’s Garden Gate for about 17 years. “It all started on Gary’s 40th birthday,” says Deb. “I bought him the welding equipment he asked for, but he did not know how to weld.”

grays garden gates
Deb and Gary Waldherr opened their business, Gary’s Garden Gate, out of their garage 17 years ago.

“This guy showed me how to plug it in, turn it on, and how to weld,” adds Gary. “That was it. We both had other jobs at the time. Deb’s business is Debra Cupp Real Estate Appraisals. I was in pickle sales.”

Clearly surprised, I asked Gary to elaborate. “I was a pickle salesman, a food service salesman. I had never welded in my life,” Gary adds.

“He started in the garage,” Deb says. “Within six months, I was taking truck loads of product up to garden stores in Seattle.”

“I repaired the shovel. I repaired the wheel barrow, and there was nothing else to repair. Deb didn’t let it go,” explains Gary. “She went over to a company and found some finials and some scrolls and brought them home and said, ‘Now okay, build something!’ It was around Christmas, so I built some items as presents for my family. One of our friends came over and she liked what I had made. She worked in Seattle and offered to see if she could market them there. Next thing we knew, Deb was making regular trips up to Seattle garden and art places with our products.

“We started with little projects. We went to garden shows. At some point somebody who lived in the Indian Summer Golf Club asked if I could build a fence.”

garys garden gate
Tumwater resident, Gary Waldherr, crafted this decorative gate that surrounds the Artesian Commons Park.

Neither Gary nor Deb had any art background or an outlet for their creative passions. They never saw themselves as artists. It took about four years before the business outgrew their garage and they moved operations to their current Tumwater location on 93rd Avenue.

They began collecting interesting garden art to sell and to draw attention to their shop. Deb created the gift shop in the outer room which she filled with a large variety of metal items that can be combined into customer’s projects.

They no longer ship smaller items to Seattle or attend garden shows.”People hear about us word-of-mouth mostly. I get calls from all over Western Washington, also Portland, and I’ve had products shipped up to Alaska,” adds Gary.

“Sometimes we have the opportunity to build gates for other gate companies.  I may not know who the clients are or where the gate is installed,” Gary continues.  “Deb and I will be driving down the road and all of a sudden go, ‘Oh! we built that!’ We’ve done some things for movie stars, and producers who have places locally, and things for some unique properties, really fun projects.”

artesian well
Access to the Artesian Well is not limited by the fencing. The well is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Gary has just finished building a fence for the City of Olympia’s Artesian Commons Park.

“The City of Olympia wanted a four foot tall fence created,” explains Gary. “They wanted something simple, with artistic details that included a water effect. Their idea had evenly spaced scrolls alternating between uprights.”

“I did a mock-up of their idea and one of mine that also used scrolls. I love free form. I love looking at lines, and I try to have things balanced, but still not balanced. The design we came up with added a flowing line that the scrolls would come off from.  It emulates water. It could also emulate wind, but it just flows down the road instead of just being a stand-alone design,” he explains. “Working with the City of Olympia, we decided to orient the scrolls so the design flows west to east so as you drive by it almost looks like it directs you down Fourth Avenue.”

“Each scroll is hand forged,” Gary tells me inside the huge metal working studio. “First I make a steel jig for each size of scroll needed. The jig is clamped to the vice. I start with a cold 20 foot long piece of steel. I get about three feet of it red hot in the forge. Then clamp it, and pull it tight to the jig using tools we have made. We make all the tools we use.”

grays garden gate
Gary displays a large scroll inside his Tumwater workshop.

“Almost no one is hand forging anything these days. No one uses an anvil or tapers their products any more. Taking the time to do a quality finish by blending the pieces together to create artistic looking connections is no longer common. Blending takes longer than actually building the product. You can buy scrolls out of a catalog, but they are not going to be this large or have this attention to detail,” he says pointing at a scroll from the fence.

Kip Summers, City of Olympia Parks Project Engineer, says, “The purpose of the fence around the Artesian Commons Park is to establish clear park boundaries and allow us to close the park when it is not in operation. We plan to add a basketball hoop. The fence will minimize the chance of the basketballs rolling onto Fourth Avenue. The fence does not fence out the well. The artesian well is open and available to the public 24 / 7 and always will be.”

“Gary Waldherr has been great to work with,” adds Kip. “He pays attention to the details and is an expert at what he does.”

artesian well
Lacey resident, Carrie Naipo, gathers water at the City of Olympia’s Artesian Well.

Carrie Naipo, who lives in Lacey, is at the well collecting water. She fills her two five gallon containers about once per week. She says it does not have anything to do with the water that comes out of her faucet at home. “My mom showed me the well when I was little. It was just wonderful. I have been getting water here for 20 years.” She smiles and adds, “I stop by when my buckets are empty.”

Talking about his work, this fence, and Olympia, Gary adds, “I really enjoyed working for the City of Olympia. They care so much about this park. I love this community and creating something that is now part of the community, something that will last a long time. We’ve got the best jobs in the whole world. I mean it when I say what we do is fun!”

To learn more about Gary’s Garden Gate, click here. The Artesian Commons Park can be found at 415 – 4th Ave East in downtown Olympia.

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