International Pondering

Irish Pond Builder Returns to His Roots to Just Add Water
By Kelly Tunney

It’s been over 15 years since Gerard Touhey took his first steps on American soil and proudly called this new land home. He came from Ireland at the age of 23 with $400 in his pocket, and the thought of living the American dream. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would learn a craft in the United States that he could bring back to his homeland. “While working on the farm, I turned to my mother and said, ‘I’m tired of counting cattle. They’re too dumb to go anywhere anyway. I want to go to America,’” Touhey said. “One night, my mother laid out two envelopes – one with $400 to support me for six months, and the other with a plane ticket to America. She never had the courage to come here and wished she always had, so she wanted me to go.” Although he was homesick, Touhey was determined to work hard and make money to support his wife, Martina, and two children, Graham and Colleen. Along the way, he would save just enough money to make the trek back to Ireland. He loved his life, but he didn’t love what he did…until ponds came along. And it all started with a pet fish.

For the Love of Fish
A pet fish that Touhey had grown fond of soon got too big for it’s tank and, having nowhere else to keep him, was set free into a local river, never to be seen again. That’s when the idea struck Touhey. “I thought to myself, ‘If I had a pond in my garden, I would not have had to let the fish go,’” Touhey said. As soon as he got home, he was moved to build his own backyard pond, and before long “Water Features by Gerard” came into existence. Perhaps it was his own passion for ponds or the lovely Irish accent that rolled off his tongue that catapulted his business to success, but America certainly was turning out to be a dream come true for him. “I have to admit, I lost a lot of hair in those first six months in America, but it all worked out with that fi rst pond,” Touhey said. “It changed my life … I didn’t know I had it in me.”

Longing for Home
Even though Gerard had grown quite fond of America, he yearned to go back home and show everyone his new craft. They surely wouldn’t believe that he had found a way to keep ponds from looking so green. One day, while visiting his ill mother, a tea time with his cousins Margaret and Jim Kells turned into a business discussion. “A quick cup of tea became a seven hour dinner, and before I knew it, Margaret and Jim were asking me to build a water feature in the garden of the Acorn Lodge,” Touhey said. They had taken him out to their newly installed water garden and he scoffed at how ugly it was, telling them that he built ponds back in America and that he could craft a better water feature. “In County Cork and the Midlands, their idea of a real pond is America’s idea of a starter pond … a plastic tub and piddley pipes,” Touhey said. “They had never seen a balanced ecosystem like the Aquascape Designs water features I put in. Their ponds would turn green with an algae bloom and stay that way. They never cleared up.” The Kells took him up on his offer, and after pitching the idea to some experienced pond builders in the U.S., he managed to round up a few people to go with him for the trip to build the fi rst-ever Aquascape Designs balanced pond ecosystem in County Laois four weeks later.

On Their Way
Touhey worked hard to figure out the logistics of shipping pond supplies across the Atlantic to the village of Durrow. he even went as far as limiting his clothing allowance and putting extra supplies in his suitcase. “My feelings were a mix of excitement and nerves, but I got through it with the help of the other pond builders,” Touhey said. “I knew that if we had problems over there, I’d need them.” The excitement of getting to Ireland for the pond build would soon be greeted with a dose of reality as they realized that bringing a few solid shovels may have been a good idea. “There were literally no tools,” Al Lentz, a fellow contractor helping Touhey on the job, said. The crew was building on a Sunday, when no stores were open to purchase more supplies. “We had to dig an 11x16 pond 24 inches deep with three-inch shovels, and haul nine to 10 tons of stone in little, plastic wheelbarrows.”

Tea Time
The fact that the crew hit sheer rock was no help either. The site, situated on the plot of an old farmhouse, presented quite a challenge for the builders…not to mention the tea breaks. “Every two hours it’s, ‘Let’s have some tea,’ ” Lentz said. “I’m standing here saying, ‘No breaks until we fill the pond,’ but it doesn’t matter what I say – they’ve got to have their tea.” After three grueling days, the crew was finished installing the all-natural pond ecosystem, using a complete Aquascape Designs system, with the exception of the pump, which did not have a plug adapted for Europe. In front of them was an 11x16 pond, with a 20-foot gradual waterfall drop and 15 feet of stream. They planted it with lilies, iris, water celery, and grasses.

That’s Not Man-Made!
When the Kells and local townspeople saw the pond, they were ecstatic. “No one could believe that we had just installed it,” Touhey said. “They thought it had been there for years.” A local pub in the village even sent down pints of Guinness, and friends gathered to enjoy the pond. “Everyone agreed that the pond and waterfall looked so natural that it looked like it had always been there,” the Kells said. Margaret Kells even requested a second pond at the couple’s home, and now, she wants to make that second pond even bigger.

Only the Beginning
Touhey’s Ireland pond was only the beginning. Before long, Touhey began getting phone calls from prospective ponderers who had seen the Acorn Lodge water feature. Soon, thoughts were racing through Touhey’s head. He had already lined up another trip to Ireland to build a second pond for the Kells, so why couldn’t he stay on and build a few more? And what if he decided to hold Ireland’s first Parade of Ponds? “Immediately after the fi rst pond, I decided that I’d like to have a Parade of Ponds, so I set out to get a few more ponds over there,” Touhey said. On a Saturday, in March of 2004, only a year after putting the first pond in, Touhey decided to hold his Parade of Ponds. By then, he had six ponds built in County Laois, and had gotten plenty of advertising from the local media. All the ponds were very close in proximity, with the furthest being only five miles away. The problem was, would the people of Ireland even understand what a pond tour was? “Nope. There was a big communication problem there,” Touhey laughed. “They thought they were going to see Ireland’s natural lakes and ponds, but I was offering them much more than that. On the other hand, we did get a great turnout!”

They Loved It
Regardless of the miscommunication, the Irish went wild over the ponds. In fact, people were so disappointed that they didn’t get to attend the one-day pond tour, that the pond owners graciously opened up their yards for a second day of touring. “I don’t know what it is, but people love it,” Touhey said. “Perhaps it’s because they get great satisfaction out of the fact that I’m an Irishman who came all the way back home from America to do it. It’s a lovely feeling to have something not everyone can have, and ponds of this caliber are in short supply in Ireland.” The pond tour has garnered four more ponds for Touhey since March and he has two more to work on this fall. He’s a little wiser about his pond building these days, however, with a pick and shovels being fl own over for easier excavating. “Do you know how hard it is to sell water to the Irish?” Touhey asked. “It’s an island and they’re surrounded by it. This is pretty special.”

Will He Leave America Behind?
After all of his success over in Ireland, will Gerard be heading back to his homeland, remembering America as merely a stop on his whirlwind life tour? “Nah, America hasn’t lost me yet,” Touhey said with a smile. “We just paid off the house here, and are still building ponds in Pennsylvania.” He does admit that it would be very tempting to start up his business in Ireland, if the demand called for it. “My family and I are dealing with the realization that this could take off, and I would certainly jump at the chance,” Touhey said. “Having said that, I don’t want to be disappointed, so it’s something I look at down the road a bit. There’s a lot that would have to be figured out before I made that move.” No matter what Touhey decides to do in the future, he’ll always be remembered as the Irish boy who came to America, made a name for himself, went back to Ireland, made a name for ecologically-balanced ponds, and came back to America to continue building ponds. But if you happen to see him walking down the street, he’d prefer it if you just called him Gerry for short.