Well, we began an impromptu project today that's gotten out of hand. We dug out a triangle (12ft per side) of sod in our front yard between our home and our neighbors.

So, could you please help with some newbie advice?

1) How do I keep the grass roots from growing and taking over this space? Do I need to add soil amendments (there were an amazing amount of worms...I felt bad disturbing them!)?

2) Planting advice? The south side of the triangle is a 6ft tall, 12ft wide fence between properties. The west side is our neighbor's 15ft high arborvitae hedge. The north side is the street, and our home is on the east. As you can tell, it's fairly shady with some summer sun. I would like a flowering tree with nice fall foliage (10-12ft wide). I know I want hydrangeas and hostas. How about a vine up the fence (there's a storage shed whose roof peeks over the fence)? Anything else?

3) Is it possible to keep this low maintenance? How do I maintain the ground to minimize weeds?

Thank you so much. I have really enjoyed browsing through these posts.