[jyl]

I'm looking for advice on a ground cover that can grow in shade, is drought tolerant, and spreads reasonably quickly.

The sidewalk strip (grassy strip between sidewalk and curb) adjoining my house is my responsibility. As I live on a corner lot, I get two of these things. The one in front of my house is sort of okay. The one to the side of my house is awful. Grass won't grow, due to pretty deep shade from large elm trees and (I think) the acidity of their leaves. We get lots of rain in winter but summer brings hot dry weather, and I'm not interested in watering the strip.

The P.O. of this house tried to make grass work, he rototilled the strip and reseeded with grass, but all that lives now is moss (in the winter) and weeds. I don't really care about the side strip, just want it to not be an eyesore for my poor neighbor and minimal work for me. It is a very nice neighborhood and I don't want to be the deadbeat.

So, I was thinking about planting a ground cover. Someone recommended "vinca". Any thoughts?

I'm willing to spray Roundup, kill everything currently living on the strip, scrape off the dead weeds, and plant the ground cover, and mulch the area in between the plantings. But I need the stuff to spread reasonably fast, don't want to be weeding and remulching the in between areas for years.

I do have a landscaper coming by, but the tree trimming estimate is already around $3K so I'm not feeling like spending a bunch more money on a bleeping side strip.