I have strawberries -- though not very good ones -- intermittently throughout the acre-plus of former horse pasture because before it was pasture, and even before it was plowed for whatever was planted before that, it was an apple orchard with strawberries under the trees. Clover is often underplanted in orchards to attract bees. That said, keep in mind that the trees and underplantings will fight each other for water and nutrients. But maybe in BC water won't be a problem, and if your soil is good, maybe nutrients won't be a problem either.

The closest trees are a lovely Japanese maple and a large oak. I haven't had trouble so far growing shrubs in areas closer to the trees than this will be. I admit to a bias against hostas because most of the rest of the yard is quite shady and I have more hostas than I know what to do with! But some will probably make their way into the border as I divide. I'm thinking about bugbane and maybe moving some astilbe and bleeding hearts over here once I get the shrubs figured out.... Started digging today! My first foray into "double-digging", and I think my back will be paying for it tomorrow.

I don't recommend it. I have had one for several years and the leaves dry out or get leaf burn easily. I have heard of others that have it and all of a sudden a big branch will just die out. I have rhus 'Tiger Eye',Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus' (golden mock orange) wielga 'Gold Rush' which are also a similar color. They all tend to green out some in the summer. Another choice that I don't have (yet)is Cotinus 'Golden Spirit' I hear that's a wonderful shrub.

Welcome, Mayland. If I were you I'd stop pulling out that ivy immediately and keep it until the drought is over. Which could be in a few months or a few years. Ivy is not PC these days by conventional wisdom, but with the normal very modest attention it requires it is beautiful, tough, very easy care, a historic and time-honored Southern plant, AND drought tolerant. And particularly valuable in your case right now, yours has well-established root systems which will help it survive drought and children. Kids will wear thin spots in it but it'd take a football team practicing on it daily to actually kill it. As far as this fantastic plant's one big negative, that it can be a pernicious weed, only the adult form form makes seed, and it's easy to remove any plant that progresses to that mature stage. And as far as growing up into the trees, it requires sustained neglect to get up there. A trim around the bases once a year will take care of anything that escapes the mower or weedwacker. As far as mowing goes, it's far more environmentally responsible than lawn as it only needs to be mowed each one or two years depending on how trim you prefer to keep it. It needs minimal feeding, no artificial fertilizers required, to keep it looking nice, and with mowing it will never develop enough depth to harbor the rodents some people associate with it. And be easy for your kids to run around on top of. Really the only other significant negative is that it's so out of favor these days, to the point that everyone is pulling it up six ways from Sunday without even considering the possibility that it might be valuable. But if this drought continues I predict that will change--big time.