Thats actually a bad pic of the hawthorne...but agreed the crusader's are quite nice. Well here is my short list, lol. Some I might not plant just because they are tougher to find/more expensive. For many of them I found a source that sells air pruned 5g. pots for a steal. Taxodium distichum Catalpa speciosa Gymnocladus dioicus Ostrya virginiana Acer saccharum Quercus ellipsoidalis Platanus occidentalis Nyssa sylvatica Liquidambar styraciflua Liriodendron tulipifera Cladrastis kentukea Aesculus octandra or pavia Acer Triflorum Acer pseudosieboldianum Chionanthus virginicus Cornus alternifolia Fagus grandifolia I would repeat the Paperbark Maple, Wolfeyes Dogwood, Royal Star Magnolia, Musclewood, Ginkgo, Katsura, Silver Linden, Swamp White Oak and Homestead Buckeye...yeah I know thats half of them. I wish I could afford an acre...I'd then undoubtably plant all of the ones I listed in this post!

Diane, In the mostly shaded eastern edge of our swamp, buttonbush, which you could consider a tall shrub or a small tree, grows quite vigorously. Although it easily tolerates water, it also survives our occasional severe droughts when the springs stop running. The flowers are puff balls that look spectacular when in bloom. Bees like this plant. On the shady banks of one of our creeks, Gregg's Mist, a native mistflower, grows. It blooms during the heat of the summer which is a bonus. Across the road, in our neighbor's sandier and sunnier soil, horsetail runs wild right on the edge of the creek. It seems invasive there, but it does hold the soil and prevent erosion. We also have the native American Beautybush growing not only all over the woodland as an understory tree, but they also grow on the creek banks and even right in the middle of the creekbed of our second creek west of our house. It is a seasonal creek, so sometimes they are standing in water although most of the year they probably are moist but not soaking wet. Our third creek further back near the back property line has cedar trees alongside in and growing in it, so it is a dry creek 98% of the time and only has water in it during heavy rainstorms where the rainwater travels through it down to the second creek. I think the third creek would have water in it if only the cedars weren't sucking it dry! (I hate cedars!) We remove cedar every chance we get, but the big monsters back at the back of the property are too large to cut down safely or easily. I do think some Amish drive on certain occasions, or they pay a non-Amish person to drive them. There are times they need to travel faster than a horse and buggy can take them. I'll scout the edges of our swamp when the weather has warmed a little more and see if anything else notable grows there that I have forgottn. I know that we have Carolina snailseed vines there in the usually wet soil, but I am sure I'm forgetting some of the other plants that like shady sites and wet feet. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Buttonbush

We own our land and are doing a custom build. We go by every day but also ran that by our GC as a courtesy. He laughed and said "It's your house, of course". A lot of times I go by after everyone has left so I can walk through it myself and see what has been done or catch any issues. I definitely find this easier to do when no one is there. We also set up a once a week meeting where we know everyone necessary will be there with my husband and me. During that time we can discuss more of the down the line stuff, i.e., they can give us a heads up on what we need to pick out, etc. or tell us about any snafus. I will note that I probably talk to my GC on the phone every other day as well. I *do not* bring my kids when people are working and while they love seeing things in progress, I either have them wait in the car or bring someone with me as a second set of eyes. Lastly, I usually bring a box of Dunkin Donuts coffee when I go in the morning; sometimes muffins too. And I always make sure there is water on site. We have a greenhouse on our property so I leave them there and let our GC tell the other guys so I don't interrupt their work. Good Luck and Have Fun!

The nice thing about cedar is that it can be revived with a simple washing using a Cedar Wash. A goo carpenter can replace damaged boards. Never paint cedar. The natural oil in cedar doesn't make it a good candidate for paint. To make things more uniform it can be stained. If you decide to go that route, then select a semi transparent stain like Duckback Stains. I believe available through ACE. https://www.superdeck.com/product/semi-transparent-exterior-stain-sealer/