WATERSCAPE CONSTRUCTION
(2014-2025)
My JOURNEY TO WATERSCAPER
In 2014, I purchased my first business: a garden centre that specialised in aquarium and pond equipment sales. Within 12 months, the Garden Centre business was failing - my own inexperience and aggressive local and online competition were the two primary reasons. The part of the business that remained stable was pond equipment, fish and aquatic plant sales. The business had a long tradition in servicing water garden customers and the local competition was not serving this niche group of customers in a meaningful way, so I made the decision to focus exclusively on the water gardening market.
At this time, there were no regulations or qualifications relating to natural water feature construction. After consuming hours of content online on the construction of water features, I landed my first project: a $3500 backyard pond which I promptly uploaded to my Facebook Page, the “Aussie Pond Guy”. That video received hundreds of interactions and within a few weeks I won my next project. Within 18 months of making the transition to water gardening, I had installed more than $300,000 in water feature projects for residential and commercial customers including an an Eco Cabin Resort, an internationally renowned Stud Farm and an award winning winery, all located in the Hunter Valley of NSW.
With each project I uploaded several videos of the construction process from beginning to end, receiving many thousands of interactions on my “Aussie Pond Guy” Facebook page which had more than 15,000 followers. Eventually my work caught the attention of Aquascape, Inc. in the United States. In 2018, I travelled to the United States for the Aquascape, Inc. international water feature contractor’s conference, “Pondemonium”. By the end of 2019 I had a thriving water gardening business servicing Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and Northern Sydney in NSW.
In 2022, I was offered the General Manager position for Waterscapes Australia, Australia’s premiere water feature design and installation company based on the Sunshine Coast, QLD. I relocated with my wife and 3 children to Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast in 2022. After a year with Waterscapes Australia, I started United Waterscapes, building a team of talented contractors and went on to install some of the most beautiful and technically advanced waterscapes in Australia. In April 2025, my spouse became seriously ill which inhibited my ability to travel, and the decision was made to close the business in June 2025.
TEAM BUILDER
It started with myself, a $10 shovel from Bunnings and very little experience. It ended with a crack team of talented, specialised craftsman that constructed some of the most beautiful and highly functioning natural water features in the world.
I learnt early on in my waterscaping journey that I was not the best machine operator, stone mason or site supervisor. It was in the service to customers through professionalism, communication, sales and marketing that my abilities shone. I was also competent in organising, mobilising and project managing large projects. I recruited a team that brought together strong leadership and specialist skills, and set about providing the conditions and framework for a supportive team environment built on care and respect. The team were well paid, respected and consequently, highly motivated.
Through the assembly of this team of highly specialised contractors, I have designed and project managed some spectacular water feature projects. I could only have brought these creations to life with the recruitment of a skilled and unified team.
