Today we’d like to introduce you to Bubba Hogan.
Hi Bubba, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I started Dreamscapes in 1998 as a Mow and Blow Grass cutting service for my younger brother, David to make some money while in middle school.
I was a full-time Deputy Sheriff with Shelby County Sheriffs Office for 25 years until I retired on March 1, 2022. In 2003, I was at a trade show and came across Aquascape Inc. Which is the world’s largest manufacturer of pond supplies and we started building ponds.
In 2007, we became Certified Aquascape Contractors and as of today, we are only a Pond/Build/Maintain company that services over 200 clients a year for pond Maintenance and builds anywhere from 10 – 60 pounds in a year depending on the size.
Today, I have 4 full-time Team Members, 3 part-time, and myself.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was slow when we first started mowing yards and after 3 years we were at 100 yards a week and that was just me and 2 of my brothers. And I was working midnights at the Sheriffs Office. In 2005, we won best of Show and Best Backyard at the Vesta Home Show and that was our last year of mowing and yard maintenance.
The pond business was slow but we kept steady in 2008 we opened a Nursery/Garden Center just before the market tanked and we were barely able to stay afloat and keep open. After we made it, we vowed never again to take on unnecessary risk and now we operate on a more conservative level and build beautiful water features.
Biggest Challenge has always been quality help. Someone will come out and after a day or two and lifting boulders they don’t come back. Building ponds are so much more rewarding than mowing.
When you mow a yard the client says that looks good and it is grown back in a week or if they were out of town they didnt know you had even mowed and sometimes it was hard to collect. When building ponds we will turn on the waterfall for the first time and the client will begin to cry at the beauty.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We specialize in natural looking water features. I am known the as the Midsouth pond Dude and have begun a youtube page that is named it.
Even though wea have built ponds in over 17 states and places like the “Lincoln Park Zoo, The Shedd Aquarium, Grapevine TX Botanic Garden, Turtle Builds in Florida and the Gator Farm in Jacksonville, FL.” Some of our proudest work is for our Clients that become family.
We have a few clients whom we have built multiple ponds for over the years and even though they live out of town we still go and visit and stay in their homes with them for a few days just visiting. Even though we are Certified with Aquascape one of the biggest things that sets us apart is that we answer the phone and call people back the same day.
Open communication even if it’s a hard conversation. We let them know if we dont feel we will be a good fit and if we can’t get to them we will let them know and give them another contractor’s info we trust will help them.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory was snow sledding behind Georgian Hills Church.
Pricing:
- Our Small Ponds Start at $4K
- Medium Ponds Start at $9K
- Large Ponds Start at $22K
- Interactive Ponds Start at $65K
- Pond Maintenance Starts at $350
Contact Info:
- Email: bubba@midsouthponds.com
- Website: www.midsouthponds.com
- Instagram: @midsouthponds
- Facebook: Mid South Ponds
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Midsouthponds
