I put dailies around my meters. It hides them well enough and gives the illusion that they are more organic to the landscape. Just a thought.

Although you can't use a shovel there, you can use a hand trowel or one of those scratching "big bent fork" things to make small holes for whatever you would like. As long as the meter reader person can still access/see the meter, there's no reason not to put in some perennials. Daylilies are an excellent suggestion as they like full sun, are "soft" if they need to be bent out of the way to read the meter, won't mind if they get stepped on once in a while, and will come back every year (perennial.) Go to the garden center and check out which perennials you might like there.

Soil that has been under mulch for a few years should be very fertile and soft to dig in. You may discover most of the mulch has decomposed over the years, and a new layer may be needed now.