New pond advice

Tom , I have just relocated from the east coast to southern California , which meant breaking down three tanks on which I was doing EI with CO2 injection and giving away their inhabitants and contents . The upside is that I have just yesterday finished digging and filling a pond that is about 1000 gallons . I have read up as much as possible on doing planted ponds , but I respect your opinion much more than the contradictory information that I get from the authors of whom I have never heard . I will try to keep the questions to a minimum , but for the time being , what substrate would you recommend ( I love the ADA Aqua Soil that you recommend , but that may be prohibitively expensive in this monster ) , and looking at previous posts , it seems you recommend a light version of EI due to smaller water change percentages , but what about CO2 requirements ? I can't imagine doing a tank without CO2 and I can't stand BBA . Lastly , I may have to leave this pond I just filled for 2 weeks to wrap up business on the east coast so my question is should I leave it empty , filled without any declorinator added , or throw in a bunch of plants and see what I come back to ? Thank you in advance and the new website design looks great .

 

Tom , sorry for not being more clear on the details . The pond is outside and is something close to a circle with a 10-12 inch wide shelf for pots at about 10 inches deep which drops off to a bottom depth of 2 feet deep . My significant other is an incredible gardener who will no doubt have some say in the plant selection , which means that flowering plants will be used as much as possible . I am wondering if Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil would be good for filling the pots as it is readily available . I also am curious as to how the submersed plants would get enough CO2 in an outdoor pond without CO2 injection . I am trying to keep the fish stocking level to a minimum , but I have a 6 and an 8 year old to contend with on that one , so that may be a losing battle . Lastly , would the cobble stones raise the hardness , or is that not something to be concerned about ? Thanks again