Meet Lee and Wally Walters

MEET LEE and WALLY WALTERS. Lee and Wally went through the Master Gardeners Class and certified in 2013. When I first met Wally and she spoke, I fell in love with her beautiful German accent. Lee came to my creaking wagon’s rescue during a work session at my home, oiling and greasing the noise right out of it. That is the kind of people they are:  kind, compassionate, seeing needs and meeting them.

In 2007, Lee and Wally retired and moved to Lake Mitchell outside of Verbena, from Enterprise/Ft. Rucker, AL. Lee is a 43 year Veteran (active, Reserve and Guard) Army Aviator/Flight Instructor (helicopter). He also has commercial fixed wing ratings and several ground instructor ratings. His job has taken him from Texas to Virginia to Iran and then to Ft. Rucker for the last 30 years. Wally retired from nursing, a job she loved. They have been married for 42 years and have 2 sons, Richard, who lives in Birmingham and Marc, who lives in Memphis, TN. They have four grandchildren.

They chose the Chilton County Master Gardener Class because of it being in the county in which they live. During their certification process, Lee and Wally helped with  Plant Sale set up and sales. They also worked with the Fig and Vine Cutting Team in January and helped to propagate fig trees.

Lee has the normal yard maintenance experience and has tried growing citrus in containers. Wally started gardening about 30 years ago and enjoys a nicely landscaped garden. Like many of us, their interest in gardening began with liking things to look nice. This interest led to planting shrubs and flowers in beds and pots. Their favorite aspects of gardening is seeing good results and being outdoors.

Their yard and garden consists of one plus acre of lakeside property on a slope, 1/2 is kept natural, ¼ is Bermuda grass, small area of raised beds, plantings of azaleas, hydrangeas, roses, evergreens, plus annuals and some perennials. Lee says when the work is done, his favorite spot is the lakeside patio or deck. Wally prefers sitting on the balcony overlooking the lake. Between them, they spend 5-20 hours maintaining their yard, depending on what needs to be done. Lee prefers any plant material that is low maintenance. He grows a few peppers, okra, tomatoes(for the squirrels) and some citrus. Wally prefers maples, dogwoods, roses, hydrangeas and a variety of perennials and annuals. Their soil is really poor, so they also do a little composting to use in amending the soil.

Lee prefers hobbies that take him outdoors and close to nature:  salt and fresh water fishing, boating, gardening, hiking, flying and traveling. Wally also likes to be outdoors swimming, boating, hiking, and weeding her flowerbeds. She enjoys classical to modern music, art and travel. Both are avid lovers of animals and are the proud parents of two rotten spoiled cats and are big supporters of the Chilton County Humane Society. They enjoy playing board and card games with their children, grandchildren and friends.

One can guess that Wally is from Germany but the city is Stuttgart, Germany. She met Lee while visiting a girlfriend in Texas. They had a correspondence courtship and after 10 months she joined Lee and the were married in Texas. She has worked as a secretary and as a real estate agent. They have traveled the past four years with Overseas Adventure Travel touring  Boston, New Zealand, Australia, Baltic Countries, Russia and just recently to Argentina/Chile (from the Andes to Patagonia). They have also traveled on their own to Europe and Asia. Wally tries to visit Germany at least every 2 years to see family and enjoy spending an afternoon in one of those great European cafes with tortes, cakes, pies, pastries displayed everywhere.

They believe words to live by are Honesty, Integrity, and Loyalty. They wake up in the morning thanking the Lord for another day. They try always to be cheerful and not take things too seriously.

Lee and Wally say their favorite thing about Chilton County Master Gardeners  are the nice people that are involved.