apple pie country: Five big gardens will highlight Brownsville event on Saturday, June 25
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QUOTE from:
The Register-Guard
“DIY innovators
"When hands-on landscapers Shelly Ellingson and
Rick Krause take on a project at their country home near Brownsville, it’s
often pretty unique.
Their bubbling, 4-foot-deep koi pond is a case in
point.
Made of split-face concrete blocks, the curved
pond meshes right against the wood of a back deck. If the water inside seems
unusually clear, it’s due to an anoxic filtration system that incorporates
kitty litter, of all things.
Shelly learned of the low-cost filtration
technique through an online koi forum. “Laterite in the kitty litter pulls the
nitrates and the nitrites out of the water,” she says. “It’s a very inexpensive
way to filter it.”
With various other landscape projects underway,
including a new fire pit, the couple don’t relax much these days. “But when we
do,” Shelly says, “it’s nice to sit there (by the pond). I find something very
relaxing about just watching the fish, and watching the lily blooms reach the
surface and open up.”
The grounds also include a vegetable garden, and
on tour day guests may stroll down to the Calapooia River.”
Home & Garden editor Kelly Fenley can be
contacted at hg@registerguard.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFenleyRG.
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