boy- he's dumping enough water in there to provide for a CYPRESS? I surely hope he has ground water, the 'town' water bil would bankrupt me!

sounds like you might as well dig down a bit, and make that place into a bog- just dig it out, fill it with half dirt, half mulch, and put in a stand of flags- they grow with the cattails in the canal near my house, and come in a japanese kind (thin leaves, yellow flowers) and a 'sweet' (fatter, more iris-like leaves, and lavander flowers) then the water can make a 'tea' for them to live in, and in a few years, you don't know it was man-made.

Willows (Weeping - trees & Shrubs, pussywillows, etc.) love a moist to wet environment. Do a search on the net for trees that like it on the wet side. good luck!

If you don't have alot of property, watch out for the willows! Alot of people think they are messy trees, and the roots can be quite invasive!

I am uncertain how much shade you currently have in this problem area. Here are a few suggestions, mostly native Texas plants.

Buttonbush is a large, decidous shrub that will even grow in standing water.

Native elderberries would probably do well; they are a large suckering shrub.

Crinum lillies like water and will take sun or shade, if I remember right.

Swamp sunflowers, helianthus angustifolius, like the type of water you're talking about as well.

Wax myrtle, a large, evergreen shrub that can be trimmed to a small tree, does well in seasonally standing water for me. It takes sun to shade.

Swamp roses also take seasonally standing water, but have 5 hours of sun each day.

Louisiana irises might do well there, depending on the sun you have.

Bog sage might do well for you; it does well in shady and sunny areas for me, but spreads willfully.

Texas star hibiscus does well for me in my wet area (that dries to hard pan in the summer, so I water it some).

Obedient plants also like lots of water.

Virginia sweetspire, itea virginica, might do well there.

Many of the native ferns might do well there, if it's shaded; you'd have to research those more.

Cardinal flower, lobelia cardinalis, takes poor drainage.

Some of the mistflowers will take poor drainage - eupatorium coelestinum and possibly eupatorium wrightii.

False indigo, amorpha fruticosa, will take poor drainage.

Strawberry bush, euonymous americanus, will take poor drainage, and likes shade.

There is also a dwarf wax myrtle that only gets 6' tall, myrica pusilla, that will take poor drainage, and anything from sun to shade.

Roughleaf dogwood, cornus drummondii, is a large suckering shrub that will take seasonal poor drainage. It might do well there.

Possumhaw, ilex decidua, a large shrub, will take seasonal poor drainage, and yaupon holly, ilex vomitoria, will take poor drainage.

Carolina buckthorn, rhamnus carolinana, a small tree, will take poor drainage.

Those are all natives, except the bog sage, and all that come to mind. I had to learn about plants that would take seasonally standing water (6 weeks straight of standing water last winter is the record) after a neighbor started a gravel pit above me and redirected the water flow onto my place. I got the gravel pit stopped, but still have to deal with the standing water. Good luck.

Yeehaa! That's a Texas-sized list, Bullnettle. I like your style!

I'd add milkweed to the list (Asclepias spp.) as it's a good butterfly plant. Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides) is another Texas native that would do well there (larval food source for many of the sulphurs) , as would Painted Brush (Castilleja coccinea, really an Oklahoma native). A lot of Bullnettle's list are butterfly hosts as is paw paw, sure the fruits can be a little messy, but you'll be a big hit with the neighborhood raccoons (it's also a host plant to zebra swallow tails, one of my favorite butterflies).

Bullnettle, most of the eupatoriums will work for that situation and many are Texas natives. Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) has a fantastic fragrance in spring, (small tree, big shrub), and red osier (Cornus sericea) is a native shrub for bird feeding (and greast winter twig color), but I don't like mixing butterfly and bird plants; it's nice to feed the butterflies, it's nice to feed the birds, not so nice to feed the butterflies to the birds. Hope those addendums make your list; it's a good one and I'm pleased as punch to see you passing it on. What a great way to keep Texas green. Right Texas Green?

Dont forget a Pond Cypress, its a hardy tree and loves water. Dwarf wax myrtle is great, it stays small and tolerates wet locations. Overcup Oak also does well in wet clay soils. Does your neighbor get his water for free ?? Good luck.