I'm one of the rare people that happens to like willow trees.
I have a few that are growing right on the banks of my ponds, they are about 6 inches under water in the spring after snow melt, and as the water table falls they are a couple feet away from waters edge during a normal summer/fall water level.
I'm wondering if it is a big no-no to let them grow?
I finished excavating my ponds in 2009, the construction wasn't ideal due to the soil I started with. The clay I wound up using for the lining was very silty, so I get quite a difference in water level from spring to fall. Last year the difference was over 4 feet due to a drought in the spring. In a normal year the water level drops about 18". I have a 4:1 slope and in some places even less steep due to all the soil being sandy loam.
I'll attach a satellite picture. The red circles are where the young willows are. This pic is from late summer 2016, the water is as low as it has been since I finished digging in 2011.
Here is a pic from I think 2013, some time around early summer:
