I have an overgrown garden and mini pond and i want to clean it all up and dont know how to go about it. im thinking about pumping all the water out of it and scrubbing the walls of the pond, installing the right filters etc. dumping the water back in and cleaning it. then adding water lillies and fish. is this the right way to do it? and anything i need to know?

I have been digging a hole in my yard for a water garden that I am going to construct, but the soil is rock hard and in-organic and because of the hole’s location in between two huge trees there are thousands of roots from small grass roots to huge 6" thick or bigger roots from the trees. I’ve been using a hoe to loosen the dirt for shoveling and to cut the roots, but it’s becoming an extreme physically enduring project. Are there any other low-budget methods to get a hole dug? Remember, I need to dig a hole to match my measurements and designs for a water garden, not just a big hole.

Note: A water garden, in my case, is a small man-made pond with fish, aquatic plants, frogs, etc.