John, the vinca minor in either green or variegated could be a good selection for you. If you apply an attractive mulch then plant through it, you'd have a nice look. Maybe 3.5" pots on 15" centers.

HTH, Rosie

If it's open shade, then sweet woodruff will probably grow there. And anyone that thinks that periwinkle (vinca minor) is slow growing hasn't planted it. I'd ask if you want some but customs might object.

Violets (viola sororia) could probably take over the bed in a year from a single plant. They spawn like salmon. Some ubiquitous and annoying hostas could add some height.

Assuming you have the area surrounded, there's also lily of the valley, which do take a couple of years to establish.

Turns out that someone on craigslist was offering all the vinca you could dig up, so I went and filled 20 plastic grocery bags with vinca and planted them, then my wife bought about 10 from the nursery and filled in the strip. We planted them in compost-lined holes, watered and fertilized with fish emulsion (because I had some handy), and this week I'll put down a layer of bark dust mulch and then some pre-emergent weed seed suppressant stuff the nursery recommended. I'll water weekly through the summer and hope the vinca gets started well. I hope this works. I'm not trying to wow anyone with my side strip, but just want something decent looking that respects my neighbors' views. I looked at the vinca growing around our house, and it is rather attractive actually.

The vinca could work but you'll find it will spread and cover much more satisfactorily if it gets regular water. Being a PNW resident myself, I know we tend not to be short of rain for a large portion of the year, but summers are notably dry. And tree cover can prevent rainfall getting through easily.

A number of the other suggestion made are less suitable, simply because they they are herbaceous or die to the ground in winter. When not present, weeds will appear (weeds grow here even in winter) and then you have deal with the issue of cleaning out the bed at least on an annual basis. And some of these tend to be less adaptable to dry shade, which can be a very limiting condition.

My suggestion would have been Euphorbia robbiae, which is both evergreen, extremely tolerant of dry shade and a nicely aggressive spreader. But the vinca should work......and most of it was free :-) Just keep it properly watered until well established.

I'm fairly certain vinca is considered an invasive and as far as I'm aware, there are several environmental groups in Portland that organize work projects to try and remove it from areas it's spread and taken over... the good news is, I think it will grow like gangbusters in your strip...

Yes, I'll water it regularly this year and hopefully by next summer it will be established enough to handle the annual five minutes of dry weather. I must by the only person in PDX hoping for rain through June!

I had very good results with Hypericum in an impossible slope under huge cedars which blocked both direct sun and rain (and we get plenty of that here)creating a dry, shady spot where the tall cedars leeched all the goodness from the soil. Nothing would grow there (except weeds of course). I saw this growing roadside and checked it out. It worked very well.

Where we are it's evergreen (I've been told in colder winters the leaves do drop, but don't know this for sure; check with your local nursery who will know for your area), yellow flowers in the summer and is easily trimmed back when it begins to encroach where you don't want it. Until it became dense the only weeds that got through were tall grasses which were easily removed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hypericum Calycinum

Vinca is not considered invasive in the PNW, even with Oregon's rather stringent noxious weed restrictions and especially if it is not planted close to a natural area.....a parking strip hardly qualifies :-)

The hypericum is not evergreen.....certainly not in my Puget Sound zone 8b/9 area. And it prefers a dry, full sun location. It is also extremely prone to rust, which disfigures and defoliates the plant each season.

Since the OP has already obtained and planted the vinca, which will work very nicely in that area, the issue is technically moot :-)

gardengal: hypericum here is indeed evergreen - southwest coastal B.C., similar climate to Seattle. I have had success growing it in full shade as described in an impossible area under tall cedars where nothing (including vinca) would grow.

I hope the vinca is successful for our Portland friend. It grows wild on our property and makes a lovely low-maintenance ground cover.

At best, Hypericum calycinum is considered to be semi-evergreen. There is a patch I inherited right outside my front door that is in a quite protected planter and even it loses most of its foliage in winter. In more exposed areas, you can expect it to be pretty much deciduous. And while it may grow in shade - it IS pretty tolerant to a range of conditions - flowering will be very sparse and that is really the only reason to grow this groundcover.....it has too many other liabilities that make other choices preferrable.

Not to dicount your experiences, canucklady, but I worked as a sales rep for many years for a wholesale grower specializing in groundcovers and I am pretty familiar with these types of plants :-) Especially as they relate to the PNW.

Well, my vinca all have survived the clumsy digging-up-and-transplanting, and seem to be doing well. Plus, I'm getting my wish of rain into June (sorry 'bout that).

However, I'm clearly going to have a weed control task for some period of time. I had put down a layer of bark dust mulch and sprinkled pre-emergent weed suppressor stuff over that. Nevertheless, weeds are happily springing forth.

This Saturday I went through and weeded. Plucked most of them, squirted Roundup on a few that were at least a couple feet from any vinca. I've never used Roundup before - have always hand-weeded - and wanted to try it out.

Any tips on how to reduce the weeding? I don't mind hand-weeding for 1/2 hour every weekend for awhile, but would be happy to do less.

It turns out that, once you let it be known that you're looking for vinca, neighbors you barely know will come up to you and offer - beseech, even - you to come dig the stuff out of their yards. It looks like my supply of free vinca will be limited only by my aching back. Or maybe they all hated my weedy side strip more than they ever let on? I'm going to try parking rusty beaters on the lawn, and see if they start giving me their cars. Such possibilities.

Try a deeper layer of more coarse weed free bagged mulch. Are the weeds coming up through where you planted or as seeds blowing in & germinating?