Terry “TJ” Belgarde wrestled a 30-pound bag of mulch from the back of the Kia Sedona minivan that held his tools.

He hefted the wet bag of material onto the seat of his four-wheeled walker, a battered necessity already showing signs of wear despite being a recent replacement. 

“Walkers don’t make great wheelbarrows,” Belgarde said, positioning himself behind it. “But this one works for me.”

Landscaping work, especially in the winter months can be punishing. Cold and wet, with wind that reddens any exposed skin; constant clouds that make the limited light of any day seem to slip quickly away.

No matter. Belgarde said he thrives on hard work — convenient, considering he has to work harder than most in his line of work.

Belgarde was born with cerebral palsy which manifests as restricted mobility in his legs. He often uses a walker to get around, and is right-hand dominant.

As many who are born with a disability will attest, Belgarde said he doesn’t feel like he struggles at all; he has learned to get around and navigate everyday life in the ways that he is able.

When living with a disability, Belgarde said, adaptation is a necessity, due to the simple fact that “this world is not built for you.”

After moving to Port Townsend nine years ago, such things seemed even more obvious.

“When I moved here, I applied for countless jobs and wasn’t able to get a job,” Belgarde said.

“They would say ‘equal opportunity employer’ but that simply means they have to give you an interview, they don’t have to give you a job.”

“I got turned down in every possible nice way you can turn somebody down without saying, ‘It’s because you’re differently-abled,’” he recalled.

On a few occasions where there was hope, Belgarde said jobs that looked like a sure thing apparently evaporated at the last minute.

“They’d say, ‘Oh yeah, you got it.’ And then I’d get all excited and the next day I’d do the formal interview and they’d realize I was in a walker,” Belgarde said.

After realizing that he used a walker to get around, the previously promising job prospects would quickly drift off, carried away by a variety of excuses leveled by his prospective employers.

“There are so may jobs that I just wish they would’ve given me a chance on, a chance to show them I could do it,” Belgarde said.

“I do whatever I have to do to get the job done.”

MAKING A WAY

Growing up in a family full of loggers and raised by grandparents who were survivors of the Great Depression, Belgarde said he learned to “get tough or get left behind.”

Fed up with getting turned down for jobs, and looking to earn some money to buy his partner’s daughter a camera for her high school graduation, Belgarde drew upon his experience helping his family with landscaping work and resolved to be his own boss.

And now, four years after taking on his first landscaping job, Belgarde’s business, Pug Paws Gardening (named in honor of his therapy dog’s breed) has developed a list of regular clients as well as a significant social media following.

The entrepreneur regularly posts videos of himself working, both to drum up new customers and to dispel any trepidation would-be clients might have for hiring a differently-abled landscaper.

While he acknowledges that he may not be able to work as quickly as other professional landscapers, Belgarde said what he may lack in speed, he more than makes up for in work ethic.

A recent day on the job with Belgarde proves the point.

After a bag of mulch falls from his walker onto the pavement near the garden at Sirens Hair Salon, one of Belgarde’s clients — he pushes the walker aside, and without a sound, grabs a corner of the bag and starts dragging it over to the pile of other bags. 

Walker aside, Belgarde uses everything at his disposal to get the job done; down even with the ground; crawling through the dirt, gravel, grass and pavement.

Belgarde said that while his walker is helpful, in many cases he can get around much quicker by crawling on his hands and knees.

“It’s just something that I’m used to. A lot of times when I was younger when I got home, I would crawl because it was faster,” Belgarde said. “From a very early age my knees got really tough; I did a lot of playing with Tonka trucks in the pea gravel driveway when I was a kid. My knees are probably tougher than the bottoms of my feet.”

Each job, he explained, presents a new set of challenges that must be overcome. Accessibility, the tools needed and site conditions are all questions awaiting answers. In some cases, it means devising a way of moving large quantities of mulch; a garden wagon with a rope tied to it; crawl, pull, repeat.

In other instances, Belgarde may have to modify his tools to better serve his purposes, like bobbing down the handle of a rake to account for his lower position. 

Over the years the landscaper has grown more confident in his abilities to take on tougher and tougher projects, but there still are a few things where he has to take a pass, mostly for his own safety.

“I don’t like ladders and they don’t like me,” Belgarde said. “I obviously don’t take any gutter-cleaning jobs or anything.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Belgarde said since he started Pug Paws four years ago, he has made a few friends along the way, friends like Evan Bombardier, who owns Bombardier Arboriculture.

After hearing that Belgarde was looking for a used weed whacker, Bombardier donated his Stihl trimmer to Pug Paws.

“I just saw that he had posted on one of the community Facebook pages and that he was a landscaper and he was looking for work,” Bombardier remembered. “I had an extra weed whacker and I just thought, ‘This guy deserves this weed whacker.’”

The two have been friends ever since. Bombardier said he finds inspiration in Belgarde’s disregard for his disability and his drive to live his life however he sees fit.

“He really overcomes. He’s a strong dude,” Bombardier said.

In a similar fashion, Belgarde met Christian Powers, owner of Powers Landscaping,  Powers frequently collaborates with Pug Paws to provide able-bodied assistance when he needs it.

“I went to his Pug Paws Gardening page and watched his videos of his work and I was like ‘Wow! This guy is so inspiring for me and truly amazing,’” Powers recalled. “So I reached out to him and we’ve been brothers and collaborators ever since, helping each other in life and talking about how to grow our businesses.” 

Belgarde credits his hard work for bringing him out of his shell and helping him to socialize more than he might have before.

“It definitely keeps me from being depressed or down about my disability,” he said. “I think it’s helped me mentally, emotionally. And when you’re financially more stable, you’re a happier person, too.”

MAKING A FUTURE 

These days, Belgarde said he’s taking on new landscaping jobs all the time and saving money to purchase tools and other necessities to grow his business. Things recently got more official, too, Belgarde said. Pug Paws now has its own branded gear available for purchase, including face masks and hoodies.

To watch video of Belgarde in action, schedule landscaping work or order your own Pug Paws Gardening hoodie, call 360-932-6984 or visit Pug Paws Gardening’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Pug-paws-gardening-beating-the-odds-2150557328518259/.