I have standing water in my back yard, I can't plant until it dries up

Make a raised garden bed or raise the level of your backyard. I do not know where you live but standing water is not good. You can also call your county or city inspectors to explain different drain systems you could try.

How much water and how long has it been standing? Have you thought about installing French drains and having the yard regraded? Standing water can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests.

If this happens regularly, you may want to install a French drain. You could also make raised garden beds from pallets and do a wooden walkway. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+make+a+raised+garden+bed+out+of+pallets

If this is typical after rains, I would go with raised beds and make sure they are high enough off the ground so that your roots don't stand in water. Judge how high to put them by how high the water stands at its worst. Perhaps you have a dip in that portion of the yard. We live on a hill from south to north and from west to east. Each spring we have a river running at the bottom of the first hill in the back yard ( one tier the house is on and two really steep ones in the back yard). It is slightly lower than the rest of the tier the house is on so that the water coming down from the other houses to the west doesn't get into the house. We deal with mud every time it rains along that area, but better than going in the house ( neighbor has junk on their side of the fence that bottlenecks water in our back yard and drains slower than it should). Perhaps you need to add some soil to that area so that it doesn't accumulate so bad and put in a drain system so it doesn't end up in your house.

Most plants won't tolerate standing water for a long period of time. The French drain suggestion is very good. Until you get the water problem under control don't worry about things like planting stuff right now. Priority number one is to fix the water problem.

Put in a dry pond. This is in the lowest part of the year planted with plants that can withstand sitting in water for a few days, weeks or not. The water will run into the pond, leaving the rest of the area free to do other plantings.

How to Make a Dry Pond : 8 Steps - Instructables.com

Best answer so far thank you!