Do you want something evergreen?

In terms of evergreen plants, something like Vinca minor comes to mind as pretty durable. Euonymus fortunei works as well.

My pick would be a mini-shrub called Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), which is notably salt-tolerant, has brilliant fall color, winter berries to give it interest, is evergreen, and can thrive in dappled shade. However, it is slow growing (adding about 4-6" per year in width). To me, its strengths outweigh this single "weakness."

See the link below for a picture of it in fall.

Here is a link that might be useful:

This post was edited by mistascott on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 15:36

Bearberry aka kinickinick is not tolerant of salt, and does better in full sun. Lots of experience with it here...

i would like to know how big an area you covering?

Hi, under these condition I think I would take "Waldsteinia ternata". Fast growing, and in case of damage able to regenerate quickly.

Good old-fashioned Creeping Jenny, perhaps?

Bearberry is VERY tolerant of salt. It is true it doesn't like shade. It is also slow growing and hard to find. Buying enough to fill in a yard can be expensive.

One problem is the most salt tolerant plants tended to evolve on beaches, and don't like shade. Plants that like shade tend to be ones that evolved for forest understoreys.

Creeping Jenny has been banned in some states for it's invasiveness...

American Beachgrass is tolerant of salt and poor soil, but doesn't like shade.

You could try clover...it does pretty well in compacted or infertile soil, and I've seen it in median strips, so it has to be moderately salt tolerant.

Boston Ivy and Lily of the Valley like shade and are pretty tough. Lily of the Valley isn't evergreen, however.

This post was edited by edlincoln on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 1:48

I would try Geranium maccrorihizum. I don't know how tolerant it is to salt, but it's tough, semi-evergreen, and likes shade and dry conditions.

Does this area get foot traffic?