To educate public about the importance of backyard decorative water features - “blue spaces”, not only for human well-being but also for well-being of our world. Those backyard oases create sanctuaries for many wildlife species, including native and migrating birds, pollinators, and butterflies. By providing those spaces you not only help yourself to have a place to unwind and relax, but help our planet to be sustainable.

I call myself the PondMaster because that’s my trade–  my talent. I take an ordinary landscape and give it the gift of life, movement, and beauty. I created Aquastonia because I wanted to share my gift with others. When I rebuilt my pond years ago, I actually rebuilt my lifestyle. Something that was pretty to look at turned into a place to drink coffee with my wife, a place to watch my children feed the Koi, and a wonderful background to take pictures of precious memories, in addition to so much more. Since then, I have found a passion in my watergarden, and I wish to introduce both that passion and that lifestyle, to those around me. Yet, what I never expected in this business was to have my clients bestow gifts of their own upon me.

When I build a water landscape for a client, I develop a relationship with them for life. I’m not only there for the birth of their water feature, I’m there for maintenance as well. My clients share with me their stories of how their water features have changed their lives. While, there are many stories to tell, one of my favorites is about a pair of clients, husband and wife, who I will simply name John and Mary.

On the first day I met John and Mary, I was taken aback with how different the husband and wife were. While the husband was very chatty and interested in the in’s and out’s of the Koi pond I was going to build, his wife was silent, nervous, and refused to make eye contact. She gave me a brief “hi” upon first meeting me and that was it. She then quickly left her husband and I to discuss the details of the pond while she reclused in their home. I didn’t ask about her, but she seemed sad and almost empty to me, as if the life had been sucked out of her.

For the next several days, each morning I discussed with John what myself and my workers would be doing, but while I tried to engage his wife, she always moved back into the house without saying a word. The project was not difficult: in a few days, my clients had a large-sized pond complete with a rainbow assortment of Koi, blooming water lilies, and other vegetation surrounding the pond. I even added a small bench next to the pond to encourage John and Mary to spend time there and to really bask in the tranquility of their new water garden. I was very satisfied with my work and as I began driving out of the driveway, I saw the wife join her husband in front of the pond.

For approximately one month I didn’t speak with my clients as there was no need to, but eventually I paid them a visit to ensure that the pond and its features were still working properly. I was pleased to see the husband greet me as I pulled into the driveway, but I was shocked to see that his wife was planting flowers around the pond when I arrived. I was even more shocked when she joined her husband to greet me. What followed can only be described as a rainfall of questions. The woman standing before me could not be identified as the woman I had met a month ago and yet it was she, but reborn almost. She was lively, smiling, and asking me questions upon questions about the pond and what flowers to plant. Upon ensuring everything was working properly within the pond and while I was getting ready to leave, Mary looked me in the eyes and said, “thank you for giving me my life back. I can finally see the world for its beauty and color again.”

I think of this story fondly because I consider it a success story: I changed the life of someone for the better and I wish to continue doing so. My goal in life is to have Aquastonia continue to bring people newfound sources of happiness and beauty in their life, and most importantly, to collect stories like this.

Igor Loos,

Founder