Airwreck,
My best shelve stocking story is: we have one "super market" for 500,000 people.
I like coffee and see several packs of ground so buy one. Running out so I go to buy more, there is none. So next time I see coffee I buy it all but notice that there are no filters. Next time buy all filters and all coffee. Next time no coffee and no filters, ask why? can't keep it on the shelf. That was three years ago, the store has not had coffee or filters since. My province is a major Thai coffee grower. It would be akin to you not being able to buy sugar.
We trim our Bougainvillea, it is just that they don't like wet feet.
I am going to guess that a rain filled pond is going to go through some severe water level changes. I have a very small pond that does that and I am going to plant some trees on the uphill side to reduce the sun's impact, looking at your pictures it looks like you could plant on the uphill sides and cover some of your water. There will be a trade off, evaporation versus tree drinking. If you are as close to my conditions as I think then the shade is the best pick. My trees root very close to the surface, so while they will dig for water they will most likely do the Thai thing and go dormant if it's too much trouble.
