Ideas for this strip of dirt on mostly shady side of house?

[gt33]

This strip of dirt runs along the side of my house and it gets sunlight only late afternoon. I used to have bushes here (mostly euonymus and a few evergreens), but I pulled them out because they were preventing the brick from drying out after rains. Very little direct sunlight combined with the bushes resulted in brick staying wet and moss growing on the brick.

Would like to do something to beautify this as it looks quite ugly as is. But any plants would have to be rather short so they don't result in shading the brick as the prior bushes did.

Low maintenance plants are preferred. Location is Long Island, NY.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Twigs]

Maybe some boxwood. You could also line it with Mondo grass.

 

[gt33]

Thanks, I like both suggestions.

So that pic above was taken right after pulling out the large bushes that were there. Since then, I have removed ~4" of soil to get the dirt well below the first course of brick (to allow that first course of brick to dry as well as to make it more difficult for termites to get to house framing).

Given that several inches of soil have been removed, can I simply plant dwarf mondo grass and expect it will thrive? Or would I have to add soils/fertilizers?

 

[Twigs]

Mondo Grass Guide: How to Grow & Care for "Monkey Grass"

Mondo grass is ideal for your garden. This grass variety is robust, hardy, and handles all types of weather conditions. Here's Everything you need to know

gardenbeast.com

Here some more specific info...I do water as needed, I have never fertilized mondo.