The trees provide beneficial shade and a possible (I hope?) dubious
canopy that a heron might not want to navigate around. (A separate
string should probably be started if folks want to brag about the
prowess of herons.) As far as firewood, only the easy hickory tree is
ours. Because the pond is near the fence and fairly close to the house
there is some wind protection so not a lot of leaves get blown off the
larger netting. I liked the screen aspect because of the fine holes.
I'll investigate shade cloth and a weekly scoop out is the prettiest
option yet. Last year we floated a huge beach ball to elevate the bird
netting in the center. The "festive" ball looked out of place in a
natural setting on a bleak winter's day, plus it drifted.