In my quest to build a bird garden, I've planted lots of shrubs - elderberry, viburnum, serviceberry, bayberry, etc. They are spaced maybe six feet apart, in groups of 5, 7 etc.. Now that they are putting on a fair amt of height, i'd like to forego mowing grass around them and plant something bird-friendly underneath them.

Any ideas on what would be good to fill in at ground level? I've thought about cotoneaster, coralberry, junipers, low growing taxus, creeping mahonia, etc - maybe even daylilies or flowers like blackeyed susans.

I'll kill of the grass first, but if i could plant something that smothers out weeds and also is attractive to birds, that would be great.

I have an area of shrubs with an undercover of wild violets, host plant for the fritillary. The violets are so dense that it is rare to find a weed or grass growing among them. Truly a no maintenance ground cover that always looks neat and tidy.