Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Want to plant trees around 10 yr old 12 acre pond

"Oh, a Weissguy!"

Trees next to a pond DO consume water out of it; large quantities compared to what plain grass will use. You obviously have room and water for a fair number of trees. If you are planning on spreading out the tree planting process over a longer time interval (2-3 years), I suggest studying how much surplus water the pond has that would be available for trees. If you have runoff leaving a full pool for most or all of the year, that would be a good sign. If the level drops considerably in dry periods, that might be a warning sign to scale back the scope of the tree planting somewhat.

Different kinds of trees use different amounts of water, also. IIRC willows are among the worst. Conifers probably use less water than decidous trees, so your evergreen plan would use less water than many other possible schemes.

Pesonally, I'd give the dam a WIDE berth on both sides AND below it, just to be sure to avoid root problems on it.