Hello, we are Paul and Caroline, the owners, managers, workers, bottlewashers..... of Echo Nurseries and Woodbridge Ponds.

About 10 years ago....

A friend told us about this funky new plant, the Water Hyacinth, which was being imported from Singapore. These floating plants were shipped to Canada for the amazing results that were seen when they were used in garden ponds. They provided early surface cover and were huge consumers of the free floating nutrients that so contributes to algae. Unfortunately the transport losses of these plants from overseas were tremendous, but the biggest problem being that they were being harvested out of the ditches in these tropical countries. Any diseases and parasites that grew there came with these plants and were being introduced into our ponds. There really was no reason why Water Hyacinth and other floating plants could not be grown locally in clean heated water beds in the winter for the spring pond season. By doing this we could provide our Canadian market with a parasite free, healthy source of these wonderful plants.

Having a horticultural background, we ordered a couple of hundred plants and purchased a small greenhouse. On arrival, we put the plants through an extensive disinfecting process which almost killed them. The next hurdle was that the plants arrived before the greenhouse so they lived in our bath tub for a while until we built it.

Now...

This was the start of Echo Nurseries. Now, ten years later the operation has expanded to over 25,000 ft2 of growing space and is the main wholesale grower of all floating pond plants in Western Canada.

Woodbridge Ponds is the retail outlet annexed to the wholesale nursery. There are over 100 different varieties of marginal pond plants, lilies and floating plants to view and purchase as well as an extensive line of pond supply needs. Visitors can also tour the growing facilities, view the many display ponds and there is always a knowledgeable staff member on hand to answer your questions.