Our Story

The Pond Clinic originally set down roots as an organic lawn care company back in 1995.

As the business grew we started renovating old worn out lawns and installing sprinkler systems too. After ten years of laying sod & irrigating landscapes I was getting bored. You see, I am a creative person and I needed an outlet for my inspiration, so in my spare time I decided to tackle landscaping our own home.

We live in the Gatineau Hills just north of Ottawa, and our property is surrounded by big, beautiful granite rock formations. Since I've always been one to work with Mother Nature, not against her, I decided to create a 14 foot high, 50 foot long woodland waterfall and stream in a stone outcropping outside our family room window.

Well, I never had so much fun in my life! I immediately contacted a few of my best customers and told them I would be willing to build them a pond and waterfall of their own. We ended up installing a Koi pond and a pondless waterfall that same month!

So here we are, several years and a couple of hundred ponds later, and my wife Catherine Neville and I have never been happier. With the support of our tremendous staff we have built one of the most successful water gardening businesses in North America. Our talented installation crew creates some of the most beautiful waterfalls, streams, ponds, fountainscapes and rain gardens in Canada, and our retail store has become the center of the water gardening community for hundreds of water gardening enthusiasts just like you.

Through the water features we design, our mission is to help people discover their innate creativity and build themselves a healthy lifestyle centered on family, friends and our natural environment. I know that sounds kinda' like new-age corporate management speak, but allow me to illustrate what I mean.

Every couple of evenings throughout the summer, I like to drop in on our new clients and see how they are doing shortly after their pond installation. If the weather is warm, they can usually be found entertaining company out on the patio next to their pond, delicious smells of the BBQ are in the air, and everyone is laughing and having fun. When they see me poke my nose into their backyard I am usually invited in for a drink, and sometimes even for dinner.

On one occasion one homeowner said to me, "Before we installed this pond, all we ever did after work is watch TV. Now we spend every evening out here together as a family. Thank you." We spent a little more time enjoying his pond, sitting together in our matching Muskoka chairs before I finally said that I should be heading home to see my own family. As I was walking back to my truck, several other neighbours passed me on their way to join in on the fun, and I could hear the happy times behind me echoing between the houses.

On the drive home I sat there in my truck grinning from ear-to-ear. The social fabric of this neighbourhood had been truly transformed by the creation of a water garden, and it felt good knowing that The Pond Clinic was part of that positive change.

If this is sounding like your cup of tea, take a moment to drop by our retail store, pick up a free water garden design DVD and let your inspiration guide you through your own lifestyle transformation.

Life really is better on this side of the pond!

Carpe diem,

Nicholas Bott, CAC