I am in the process of reclaiming my overgrown mud pond, definitely no small task! There used to be horses on the property and they did a great job eating up all the thrush, grass, and weeds to bare dirt. I was so happy to see green around the pond 2 years ago I let the thrush and weeds grow and man am I sorry now! (dig, curse, dig)

Long story short, I've bought a Gunnera Mantica, an Arrowleaf Elephant Ear (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), some type of ornamental Rhubarb and that's just the start. I've realized today that I have a big variety of planting area around this pond, offhand estimate as to size would be 40 feet from one side to the opposite, one half is in shade and boggy, the soil is constantly saturated. The other half is moist to dry dirt and gets some sun. I've got a foot of drop off for a 'bank' into the water all the way around. I've searched this forum and read up on previous Gunnera and EE postings, what I've gathered is the half of the pond with sunlight and drier dirt (maybe 6 inches up the bank?) would probably be ideal for the EE, and the Gunnera would probably do better in the shady half. I'm concerned about planting the Gunnera in the constantly saturated dirt, will that be too moist and make the bulb rot? Or should I go for the halfway point and put it where it gets some sun halfway up the bank?

I hope no one else is as confused as I am. Looking forward to your responses!