I'm not sure if this falls under lawns or design, so I'll try both places.

I just laid zoysia a few weeks ago and it looks great. Now my question is what to do around the perimeter. This particular corner has a small palm and I think an Ash that are currently in competition...as soon as I can convince my husband to let me give the Palm the advantage, I will cut down the ash(?). For now it's trimmed way back.

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However, this area is pretty shady. There are two pecans opposite that have just started blooming. Once they do, there will be more shade. We cut back some trees last fall, and I'm fairly certain now we'll have enough sun for the zoysia in the middle, but I doubt it'll grow under the trees.

I have a sort of perimeter flower bed type thing going on outside the fence and on the other side of the house (mostly with stuff like lantana, plumbago, salvia etc). This corner is problematic though. I don't want to plant much that will go UP, since I don't want to block my neighbor's plantings on the other side.

However I need something there or the weeds will take over. There's some old ivy I'm constantly battling. Do I let the zoysia do what it will and see if it fills in? Do I plant some sort of groundcover like monkey grass (after putting an edge in)?

{{gwi:27239}} This pic is just to the left of the first (looking south). Please excuse the wood pile, we just tore down our old porch. You can kind of see the plantings on the other side. I had planned to fill in the interior with a similar thing, but now am having second thoughts.

The last picture shows the western view, just to the right of the palm. A bit more sun, but again I don't want much growing UP. Just to the right of that chinaberry will be a play house.

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And just so you know, this land was a field of weeds for years...It was loved at one time but that was many years ago. We considered more hardscaping but with kids, grass seemed optimal. We'll do some hardscaping on the side next to the house (opposite these pictures). This particular corner won't be used much for traffic, it's really just a border area. Oh, and my husband also won't let me cut down that chinaberry, so I'm stuck with it for awhile.

Any thoughts?

Here is a link that might be useful: More old house stuff