In preparation for some underground work near the house, we cleared an area of mostly alder, some conifers. We'd like to plant something to keep the previous groundcover of Himalayan blackberries and nettle from coming back. There's full sun only when it's directly overhead. The ground is more sandy than clayey.

The area is large enough that we are hoping to find something which is low-maintenance but will do the job without running wild. An earlier experiment somewhere else taught us that dead nettle is NOT the way to go!

Thanks for any suggestions.