A Little History

Our company started about 22 years ago and is family owned. Our employees have been with us for many years. We are also certified through Aquascape Deisgns as the "only" certified water installer in this area. We attend seminars and training sessions 2-3 times a year (every year) and we network with CAC (Certified Aquascape Contractors) and the Aquascape Designs office frequently. We visit with our customers on a regular basis and have helped start a local pond club (IAPE) and are chartered members for the State of Illinois with NAWGS (National Association of Water Gardens Society). We (IAPE) were the first club registered in the state.

About Our Company

Chris Sturdyvin
"Pond Dude"

Hello! I am Chris Sturdyvin, owner of Chris' Lawn Service & Water Gardens. We are located in the heart of central Illinois, just north of Homer. We provide services to all of central Illinois from the Indiana border to Bloomington and everywhere in between. Chris' Lawn Service was originally formed in 1984 to perform regular lawn maintenance, weed control, fertilizing, aerating and trimming trees and bushes for residential and commercial properties.

In 1999 I began looking for a better way to serve our customers that owned water gardens. At that time, most ponds were considered complete with barely any filtration system and usually were green, mosquito havens and not very appealing. By a stroke of destiny, I met Greg Wittstock, owner of Aquascape Designs in St. Charles, IL. They system they developed was designed to include a biological filter system that really worked! This natural water gardening system and the philosophy behind it was to work WITH Mother Nature and not against her. At first, it all sounded too good to be true. Greg told me to install a water garden for myself and if the system didn't work or we weren't completely satisfied he would buy the entire pond kit back from us! So one weekend, my wife Jackie and I began digging the pond, setting the liner, installing the skimmer, etc. and finally, after several days and lots of sweat we had our very first 11' x 16' pond.

Right from the get-go we loved it. It was perfect and more than we could have dreamed for! There was very little maintenance (add AquaClearer bacteria, empty the skimmer net occasionally, trim back plants, etc.) and loads of enjoyment. We couldn't wait to present this awesome system to our customers.

In 2000 Chris' Water Gardens was formed. Since that time we have designed, installed and/or rebuilt over 200 ponds in central Illinois. Our customers have become part of our family. We enjoy visiting all of our ponds and answering questions from our customers as well as individuals in the community that have a pond and need advice. We still maintain several lawns but our passion is now with water gardening.

We are the very first Certified Aquascape Contractors (CAC) in downstate Illinois and proud of it! As CAC's, we continually attend seminars and meetings with Aquascape to learn more and more information about water gardening, to better serve our customers. We are considered the local pond professionals, often called the "Pond Dude", and are basically the only company in this area to go if you want it done right the first time!

We have expanded now to include the retail side of the water gardening business by partnering with local retail stores to get our products to our customers faster than ever before. Some of the stores that carry our products are Illini FS Farmtown in Urbana, Danville Gardens and Pet World in Danville. Not only do we provide all the pond treatments and parts you could ever need, we have an elite selection of koi and aquatic plants available.

We service all of our ponds for the full life of the pond. We even work on and fix ponds that were built unsatisfactorily by others.

Our main goal is to educate people about the enjoyment of water gardening. We do this every day and know what it takes to make water gardens a little piece of paradise.

We are available for talks and seminars for local clubs and groups and performed over 25 seminars in 2008.

Ponds Built Right. Customers Served Right.

Creating paradise, one pond at a time.

Chris Sturdyvin

Jackie Sturdyvin

As mentioned before Chris' Lawn Service was formed in 1984. What Chris failed to mention above is that he wanted a John Deere tractor to mow our own 2 acres but I was reluctant to buy it due to the cost of a new mower. He made a deal with me that he would start mowing a couple of yards to help pay for his mower. This agreement kick-started a business that we both enjoy and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

When we built our first pond I knew that myself and our children would love it. The plants, the fish and all the extra's that come with having a pond are the added benefits that we could all enjoy. I had no idea what it would do to Chris. He had been a meat cutter for over 20 years; done karate in the evening; disc-jockeyed with his brother for over 12 years; and basically was a workaholic. After the pond was installed he couldn't wait to come home to just sit by the pond. Sundays after church was his time to get IN the pond and rearrange rocks, check on lights and always "tweak" the waterfall. We now spend our time after work and on the weekends enjoying each other's company, watching our kids and now grandkids, playing in the water, feeding the fish and basically just being around the sound of the water. We are always out there!

We have a saying around here: "Everyone wants a pond, some people just don't know it yet!" This is so true. When people come to see our water gardens and just sit back and relax, they find that they want a pond too (and more often than not, end up getting one!). It's the best landscaping investment you can make!

Tracy Jo Willis
Office Manager

Tracy Jo is our oldest child and became our office manager in 2006. She has worked with the lawn care and pond company since it began, starting with picking up sticks for Dad and working her way up to running the mowers and eventually a lawn care crew. She now enjoys the pond business much more, as we all do, and works in the office. She is probably the voice you hear when you call. She is responsible for updating the databases, creating newsletters, and invoices, shipping and receiving of products, arranging seminars and other general office duties.

Tracy Jo and her husband Bryan were married in our backyard by the larger of the two ponds, with over 100 family and friends in attendance. It was an absolutely beautiful setting for a wedding, with the cascading waterfalls and flowers everywhere!

We now have two grandchildren, Samantha and Tyler, who LOVE the fish and constantly want to go outside to see and feed them!

Jason Sturdyvin
Bloomington area

Jason is our second child and now lives in Bloominton-Normal. He also has a passion for water gardening and loves to help when he can. He takes care of the customers we have in his area and can answer just about any question!

CAC (Certified Aquascape Contractor)

We are certified through Aquascape Designs as the only certified water installers in this area.

We also just received notification that we ranked 117 in 2003 as installers by Aquascape Designs. (There are over 4000 installers in the U.S.) We take great pride in our work and our commitment to our customers. We install water features AND do maintenance, plantings and clean-ups on yearly basis. We are always here to answer questions.

NAWGS (North American Water Gardens Society)

We are members of NAWGS and IAPE is registered as Chapter Members with NAWGS. This organization networks with other pond owners as well as professionals in answering questions on ponds, water filtrations, fish, etc. This organization also lobbies on behalf of the industry, as well as initiates their own legislation in other areas of regulatory concerns.

Pond owners may visit www.nawgs.org for more information on ponds, activities & legislation.