We had a long and interesting night last night in North Texas. Tornado warnings are always fun with three kids under 6 years old. We wound up having 80 mph straight line winds. We were devastated to find that our huge 100 year old oak tree in our front yard was split in half. It was one of the main reasons we bought the property. However, the oak tree didn't fall in the pond. I had several 30 foot tall willow trees fall into the pond. Snapped at the base and fell perpendicular with the bank. I don't have much existing cover or laydowns in the pond. Would you leave them? Seems like they could be good natural laydowns.

Glad you are ok...

Several co-workers from Rowlett & east Dallas said
they had to get ready for work without power this morning.

Willows can start new trees where branches will root....

Oh, I have many small willows to manage. It won't be anything new. They don't seem to grow in water deeper than 6 inches or so. I was more just concerned with adding that much organic matter to the pond at once, ph issues, etc.

I'm glad you and yours are ok. I was on the outer edge of the storm. The wind blew and the stuff flew, but I don't think we lost any trees.

A few pictures my wife took during the day time. One shows a willow laying in the pond. She was more focused on our huge oak.

I have a tree laying in almost the exact position in my pond. It wasn't a willow tree. We cut it down like 4 years ago and it fell into the water. It eventually sank and I still see it laying on the bottom. It has produced some nice fish.

Your tree

dang shame about the big oak.

personally I'd leave the willow in the photo, but tie it off to the stump so it doesn't float away.