I think it's firstly important to get a plant that solidifies your soil. Something like an annual wheat. Yeah, it'll die off, but natural vegetation will take it's place. If you're wondering about aquatics, in Lincoln TJ and Bruce have a very cool pondweed (can't think of the name off the top of my head) in some of their ponds. It's all around the shoreline most of the year, I believe, but isn't overwhelming and keeps any algae away. And really easy to run a net through. Something to think about in the future. I'm considering introducing it into my small pond once it's built.
