This picture was mainly taken as a record of my new fruit trees, but it shows the area under discussion. You can't really tell how bad the grass is from this picture, but unless it suddenly decides to take off this summer, we are talking about 3 blades of grass per square foot. I am in the back yard, looking south - as you can see, it is shaded from both the east and west. The mulched bed with trees on the right belongs to our neighbor and marks the property line. As for frequency of use - we were thinking of some more permanent walking path as well as the pachysandra. But, not as wide as a tarp! We actually rarely use that side yard - the patio and sliding door are on the other side of the house, as well as the main garden areas, so usually when I am using a wheelbarrow I go on the other side. (Big pile of compost on the driveway to garden areas is the usual route - though I did go the other way when I was planting the fruit trees, for instance. I'm actually not sure how often the lawnmower would need to go that way, since that isn't my job. ;)

I was just admiring my heucherella (huechera x tiarella) 'Dayglow Pink' in a shady spot under a dogwood. Its blooms are charming and very long lasting. I also concur with Geranium macrorhizum. I have a variegated variety that is really nice. I have non-variegated one that is a little boring, but functional. macrorhizum/big root translates to low water consumption. I have mine in a spot with tree root competition and it doesn't mind at all. I'm not familiar with KY zone growing, but I would wonder if some of the earlier suggestions (vinca, lamium, sweet woodruff) might be too aggressive in your climate. I know even here they can be. Some of the lamiums are more aggressive than others. 'Purple Dragon' is almost out of control in my yard, but 'Pink Nancy' in another spot barely gets going. Of course, soil, sun, water plays into the mix of which ones get a little too "happy". Having said that, if you have a large area to fill, aggressive can be a good solution.

Creeping myrtle IS Vinca minor. Experiences are different in different areas. In MI your annual rainfall may be much greater than ours (here, typically 2 7-29" per year, however, very sporadic - we may go for one or two months without significant rain causing damage to V. minor). My statement that, for Vinca minor to do well it needs consistent moisture is that a newly planted batch hitting a two month stretch without rain in a sandy soil would suffer greatly HERE. Having said that, if it had been well mulched it would have helped to ameloriate this, but not totally prevent damage without supplemental moisture, whether established or not. If you are looking for a tenacious ground cover that will stare in the face of drought while living in dry, sandy soil in a shady area, either shadara's violets or yellow archangel or bishop's weed should work. However, keep a good supply of glyphosate on hand to keep these in check! Hortster

I know that vinca is supposed to be fast growing and invasive, and there are plenty of people trying to get rid of it, but mine is still fairly thin in places I *want* it to grow. It does allow weeds to grow in the spaces while it's getting established. Pachysandra is the same way--very persistent even where you don't want it, but seems to take a fair amount of time to get really dense. At least there are likely going to be ample people willing to give you free or cheap offerings of both vinca and pachysandra. Same thing for wintercreeper, but do read the warnings about its invasive tendencies, especially if you're near woods. I've become a big fan of microbiota. It may not be the fastest thing on earth, but it's noticeably increased. It takes snow load well, it's soft in texture, it out-competes weeds, and it's had very little winter kill. If you want to see what a really well established patch looks like, check out Tower Hill Botanic Garden.