Mark, You are right that "Basic Pond Management" does have some information about the core trench with a nice cross section detail. The problem is that it just calls out for "core fill". Both of Tim Matson's books do something similar, but without a clay mix "recipe" (all of us women like to see the exact mixture required!). So, your thoughts are very useful. I have had a soils test done and it is not pretty - sand to about 10' and then clay/sand mix to about 12, clay down around 15. Certainly deeper than I had hoped. So, we are still in the figure-it-out stage.
Now the trees: Did NOT move the willows after hearing so much negative advice from the experts on this site. However, we are still planning to move the fir trees from our neighbors on the mountain. Around here there is a great deal of bartering, she wanted some of my jumping saddles, I wanted a few of her thousand+ trees. A tree mover will handle the job, so the actual cost is mostly in the digging part ---- a lot like my pond project! We decided to get the pond in first and then place the trees further back. Hopefully we can still block the view of the new alpacka farm next door! Somebody forgot to tell my neighbors that this is cattle country!
