Lauri Mitchell relishes the perks of being "Pond Mom." When she and her husband, Randy, moved to a ranch home in Palatine, Illinois, she called on her son, Greg Wittstock, to install a water feature in their backyard. Wittstock is the founder of Aquascape, a design and construction business in nearby St. Charles. His crazy-entertaining YouTube channel, The Pond Guy, has 582,000 followers.
"She's been my biggest fan for the past 40 years," says Wittstock, who happily gifted the spectacularly landscaped pond to his mom. He credits her with encouraging his hobby-turned-profession when he dug his first pond at age 12-to house pet turtles. Seven or eight years later, when he announced he wanted to start a pond-building business, she supplied a shovel and wheelbarrow and drew on her own work as a corporate trainer to foster his early service mindset.
Like many of Wittstock's customers, Lauri and Randy started with a smallish pond and grew from there. "We built this pond four times," says Wittstock, explaining they started with an 11x16-foot pool and a single waterfall.
In no time, his team returned to expand the pond with creviced "moss rocks" that Randy discovered on a local pond tour. (Sedums and mosses grow in the rocks' slits and nooks.) Next, Wittstock added a 25-foot stream with an additional waterfall for his mom to view from her kitchen window. Some evolutions were motivated by necessary considerations: The Mitchells wanted to add more fish, so they built a wetlands bog to filter the extra waste. Other additions were just for fun. "We came back from a trip, and I looked out the kitchen window and saw two new spillway bowls," Lauri says. "Greg was like 'Hey, happy birthday, Mom!""
This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
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This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
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At Long Last - At sunny meadows flower farm in Columbus, Ohio, the same cutting beds that feed summer's fresh bouquets also provide bunches of everlastings for use in dried arrangements
At sunny meadows flower farm in Columbus, Ohio, the same cutting beds that feed summer's fresh bouquets also provide bunches of everlastings for use in dried arrangements and wreaths-both their own creations and yours. color us inspired.
NATURAL FIT
WITH LANDSCAPES NEAR AND FAR AS THEIR GUIDE, A MINNEAPOLIS COUPLE BUILT A NEW HOME THAT COMPLEMENTS ITS ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD AND SOFTENS THE LINE BETWEEN INDOORS AND OUT.
COLOR SHOW
FALL IS A BIT LIKE THE HOLIDAYS, WITH SPECTACULAR DISPLAYS OF COLOR AND LIGHT EVERYWHERE-EXCEPT NATURE DOES THE DECORATING. TREAT YOURSELF TO THE SEASON'S SIGHTS AND SOUNDS ON A VISIT TO ONE OF THESE DAZZLING PARKS.
IT'S CHILI TIME
AT A TAILGATE, A CAMPOUT OR JUST BECAUSE IT'S FALL, NOTHING HITS LIKE CHILI. AND FEW MEALS STOKE MORE REGIONAL PRIDE AND DEBATE. (TEXANS, WE SEE YOU. WE RESPECT YOU. BUT WE LIKE BEANS.) SO WE'RE GIVING YOU FIVE NEW CHILI RECIPES INCLUDING ONE FOR LEGIT CINCINNATI CHILI-PLUS CHEESY SCALLION CORNBREAD AND AN ODE TO CINNAMON ROLLS. (DON'T ASK. JUST READ ON.)
The GREAT ESCAPES
IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA, HISTORIC LAKESIDE RESORTS KEEP ALIVE A CENTURY OF TRADITION. GENERATION AFTER GENERATION, THEY HAVE YET TO GO OUT OF STYLE.
TWO FOR ONE
PLAN A FALL WEEKEND TO BENTON HARBOR AND ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, AND YOU'LL HAVE DOUBLE THE FUN.
DAY OF THE DEAD
DURING DÍA DE MUERTOS (NOVEMBER 1-2), TRADITION HOLDS THAT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND LIVING WORLDS WEAKENS, ALLOWING A REUNION WITH PASSED LOVED ONES. HERE ARE SIX PLACES TO CELEBRATE.
MAIN ATTRACTION
FRESH LOCAL FARE AND SLEEK COFFEE SHOPS RUB SHOULDERS WITH STYLISH BOUTIQUES AND VINTAGE MARKETS IN MOUNT VERNON, IOWA.
A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
GLACIERS ONCE SHAPED THE TERRAIN OF SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA. TODAY, PEOPLE DO. THEIR IMPRINT SHOWS EVERYWHERE IN A LIVELY FOOD AND COCKTAIL SCENE, THROUGH A KALEIDOSCOPE OF OUTDOOR ART, AND AT A WATERFALL PARK THAT LOOKS BETTER THAN EVER.
PEAR HUGS
AS COMFORTING AS A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP (AND AS SPECIAL TOO), THESE PEARS COME WRAPPED IN PASTRY, DRIZZLED WITH CARAMEL AND INFUSED WITH GOOD FEELS.
