Meet the Rockstars

“ROCK STARS”? Out of context it does make you scratch your head, but spend one day on the job with the “ROCK STARS” from Atlantis Water Gardens slinging monster boulders and carefully placing them to create one-off cascading waterfalls and you’ll understand how we got our moniker! (And besides, we think it sounds cool :) )

Atlantis Water Gardens was founded by Jaak & JoAnn Harju in the late 90’s after moving on from their landscape business to pursue water features exclusively. “We got our feet wet fixing one of our landscape clients’ ponds and I decided it was way too much fun not to make it into my new career!” says Jaak Harju. JoAnn Harju said, “I didn’t have quite the same passion as he did until we built a water garden in our own back yard, then I understood what he was so excited about! The reactions we get from our clients on a daily basis is proof enough for me that we made the right career choice!”

Over a decade of hard work, education and passion for the water gardening industry has grown Atlantis Water Gardens into one of the premier water garden design/build companies in the Northern New Jersey. “Water gardening has provided us some unique opportunities, experiences, friendships and accolades over the last decade.” says Jaak. “Our annual trip to Chicago for Pondemonium , hosted by Aquascape, Inc - the world’s largest water garden manufacturer, is a week packed with seminars, hands-on water feature construction and networking with the best pond builders across the U.S. It has benefited our business tremendously with the education we have garnered as well as the friendships we have fostered with out peers throughout the country.

Becoming a Certified Aquascape Contractor (CAC) in 2006 was something we had worked towards for many seasons and acheiving that certification has paid us back many times over, thanks in no small part to the support network of our 350+ CAC brothers and sisters. Being able to call on such an experienced group for advice, technical support and hands on help for large scale projects has been an invaluable tool. Being in the company of these highly skilled contractors was enough of a benefit for us, which is why it was so incredible when in August of 2010 they voted Atlantis Water Gardens “CAC of the Year” for the entire U.S.! Giving us that distinction is truly an honor and a humbling experience, for us there is no greater designation in this industry.

We’ve had lots of other exciting opportunities because of our involvement in the water garden industry, like being invited to build and unveil the very first RainXChange system at Disney’s Epcot Center in 2008, becoming one of the first Certified RainXChange Professionals (CRP) in 2010, and hosted 3 awesome pond tours that have raised close to $10,000 for local charities.

This business has been very good to us and we couldn’t imagine having the passion or drive to do anything else. That being said, the #1 factor in our success and the reason we are still here for over a decade is our customers and the relationships we have grown with them. They have made it possible for us to live our dream and make a living doing something we truly love.

On behalf of all the Atlantis Water Gardens “Rock Star” family, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little and hopefully we’ll “See You ‘Round The Pond!”

Jaak & JoAnn Harju Atlantis Water Gardens

“Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life”

Confuscious