1. Since your side is fairly level, I dont think your lasagna bed will wash out. But keep an eye out. If you see erosion gullies, cover the bed with something more substantial - traditionally lasagna beds are covered with burlap. Good luck finding it.
2. If you NEVER weed the bed, and the neighbors NEVER try to kill the vinca on their side, yes, you would eventually have a reinfestation. However, I do not find vinca particularly agressive and weeding once or twice a year will take care of the problem. Besides, if your neighbors ever weed'n'feed their grass, that will take care of the problem. Or they might just choose to weed it out of thier grass.
3. I dont think there would be a problem with your bed abutting the gravel strip.
4-5. I'm not familiar with NC growing conditions so I hesitate to recommend a small upright tree. But don't forget that some large shrubs can be trained to tree form and might also do well. Around here, I like Viburnum prunifoliam (sp?) shaped to a multitrunked tree.
6. Ah, those blasted chippies. Well, what do you want to do? You cant repel them. You can kill them or ignore them (and encourage the cats - maybe grow catnip?) I find that sulphur smoke bombs (try your garden center) put a dent in the population, especially if done in the spring. Some people trap them with rat-sized snap traps (put in a section of pipe to keep away from cats). I try to live with them (they ARE cute and I watched Disney movies too), but when my brick sidewalk collapsed, I reluctantly began using the bombs.

Florida anise (illicium floridanum) is nice shade loving shrub. 4 hours of morning sun should be enough to produce it's lovely red flowers and uniquely shaped seed pods. It is evergreen, which many non-gardeners seem to appreciate. Another idea is Rhododendron catawbiense.

I believe you can get some sharp rocks to put underneath whatever you plant to deter any tunnelers.

Nice small trees include Halesia (silverbell) and Styrax (snowbell). Native azaleas can certainly achieve small tree status and can be prune up nicely to show their curvy limbs.

This is a plant I wanted when we lived in TN but never got....

Farkleberry arboreum:

Farkleberry is an erect shrub or small tree common throughout the southeast in dry, acidic, rocky woods. It has dark green, lustrous leaves which turn a fiery red holding on late in the season before falling off, then revealing attractive exfoliating bark. Small white spring flowers make way for clusters of black, inedible berries which persist into the winter. Farkleberry is a good choice for dry, acidic, rocky woods. It responds well to pruning so you can have a short spreading shrub, a tall upright shrub, or a small tree. Try a wood's edge planting featuring Farkleberry, Alumroot, and Eared Coreopsis.

Doesn't it sound cool? It does have berries, so you might not want it. I'll provide a link to the place where I love to go and dream....:)

Here is a link that might be useful: sunlight gardens

In terms of small trees, redbud (Cercis canadensis) and serviceberry (genus Amelanchier) come to mind.

The Vinca depends a lot on conditions. In woodland it's about as aggressive as anything there is. In sun it can't compete nearly as well. I'd keep an eye on things. If there's enough sunlight for the grass to be happy, I'd expect the Vinca not to be a problem. OTOH, if it's shady where the Vinca's popping up... probably the grass isn't going to do well and will quickly be outcompeted by the Vinca.

Patrick Alexander

Farkleberry, the latin name is Vaccinium arboreum, is indeed a beautiful shrub with very shiny leaves that almost look like they should be evergreen they are so thick.

Oh for crying out loud..lol...thanks esh, my brain and my fingers weren't working together...lol..you are correct. It is vaccinium arboreum, not farkleberry arboreum...I get points for getting it half right?

Well, sure you do Terry! I knew what you meant ... and it's a great recommendation.

Thank you for all the ideas!

Apcohrs, thanks for the details. I've never heard of sulphur smoke bombs. I'm going to look into those for the problem. The smoke sends the little critters somewhere else?

Esh, I looked up Florida anise, and it looks great, but I'm afraid the site wouldn't be moist enough for it. The sharp rocks are a great idea. Would you put them in the bottom of the planting holes?

Terry, the farkleberry *is* a great idea! I love the looks of it. This is one I'd like to get.

Patrick, at the moment, the neighbors are out of town, and we're having something of a drought combined with 99 degree days. The grass is not doing very well, being new, and the vinca is popping up everywhere. My neighbors are too busy to do much gardening, and they were in a hurry to get the slope planted, so they didn't get all that they should have out first. I'm thinking to help them pull it and offer them some ajuga I have to put on the slope since it stays low and doesn't need mowing. Otherwise, they may give up and let the vinca take over again. I'd much rather deal with ajuga than vinca.

My description was not entirely accurate. It turns out that the strip is only 10 feet wide (my part). Also, I've realized that I have to have some pruning done to some of the tree limbs because we're having squirrel problems. So, I may have put the cart before the horse. In terms of shade/sun, there may be a big change after the pruning.

I've taken some pictures to post, but the scanner is shot, so I have to get enough photos together to have a CD made at the store. I think I'll get that done today, so will post the pictures soon.

Thanks again for the ideas.
K.

I finally got the pictures ready to post.

This is a view from the front looking back.
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Here's midway down looking back.
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Here is half way down looking to the front. From left to right you can see part of a small shrub that may be a type of holly, then a crape myrtle, then a second small shrub like the first, then a pile of trimmings from the final plant, a large holly.
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And here is the front corner of the house. I tried to leg up the holly but discovered that someone before me had pruned it back severely from a large size, so the exposed trunks are not pretty. I don't know what kind of holly this is.
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In the second and third photos, you can see how the ground is uneven. This is where the chipmunks have their tunnels.

Since the maple will be pruned, I'm thinking I should concentrate on things that will take part to full sun.

I don't particularly like the large holly, but I may try trimming off another trunk or two to see if it looks any better. It may be hard to remove it totally for a couple of years (when I will have finished my program of study and can hopefully *hire* someone to do it! My experience with the forsythia was not encouraging). What I'm trying to do is figure a long term plan that I can take several years to complete as I'm able.

I think the gravel is against the house probably for termite precautions. Can perennials be planted in that? I'm not happy with the bare strip holding a few "foundation planting shrubs" and then perennials out from there. I'd like a more natural look, and space to walk.

Am I asking the impossible?
K.

If 10 feet is all you have, you are asking for a lot- 3 feet for a path, 2' away from the house=5 feet available for planting. You usually don't want plant material planted right up against the house- it will trap moisture and make maintenance difficult.

Yes, Creatrix, I realized I was asking too much when I actually measured the area. I do want to be able to walk from the front to the back, and I do want it to look fairly nice. I don't know what to do.
I think the crape myrtle that is there has to come out. It is already reaching toward the driveway and trying to drop stuff on the cars. Besides, it's hard to walk around. The ligustrum is better because it's closer to the house and it's pruned to something like a tree with higher branches. However, I do know that it's invasive, so I'd like to replace it. Don't know with what.