Groundcovers? And depending on the mulch selected, many wood or bark mulches actually repel insects (cedar, cypress, redwood).

I'd advise against the river rock idea because I have just posted a topic on it! Weeds have totally taken over and it's tiring weeding between rocks.... especially when they have rooted themselves into the soil pass through the thin fabric. I bought the heavy duty woven weed barrier and was thinking of redoing mine and waiting to see if houzz gardening heads can help with a few suggestions.

If you want easy, I'd probably use the space for planting a shrub since you get sun (it seems) and put cedar mulch. Maintenance is definitely lower than river rocks. and cheaper I think.

Most experienced gardeners and every professional I know will caution against using landscape fabric (whatever the grade or quality) for anything other than hardscaping projects. It is not at all that effective against weeds, makes any weeding down the road (and there will be some!) more complicated and impedes or slows water penetration, oxygen exchange and fertilization. A decent layer of mulch should accomplish much the same thing with none of the drawbacks. And with a number of advantages the fabric does not have.

Agree..I think low maintenance shrubs will work for this patch.

but for us... we acted too quickly when we were new homeowners! totally unappealing now. But since we've already bought and placed all the river rocks there, it'd be such a waste of money.

You want something nice and clean but ruling out turf. Every thing you install will need to be kept weed free or will become a maintenance nightmare. Preen (pre-emergent herbicide) helps as does mulch. But mowing the lawn is probably the easiest way to go since you're already doing it nearby. It doesn't seem that you're considering in any way what the effect of the planted material has on its surroundings (since you're not showing or discussing them), but only that it is uncluttered and easy to care for. What you've ruled out, is probably it.

Shrubs ..lavenders ..Rosemary..Hebies ..Box

Thank you for all of the replies so far. I wasn't aware that some mulches are able to repel insects.

Also, the reason I originally did not want to consider grass is that I have grass ahead of that large tree (I think spruce?) and it does not seem to want to grow around this tree. I figured the area behind it would be no different. I'm not sure if the needles and whatever else falling from the tree is affecting the pH of the soil, or if the tree is just sucking up all the moisture but grass does not seem to like being there.

About the grass, I'd suggest the number one likeliest reason for it not to grow near the tree is too much shade, compounded by there being also a house there limiting direct sunlight. You need to limb up trees and let light below them if you want to grow grass below.

The area shown seems suitable for a wide range of possibilities-- small shrubs, groundcovers, perennials.

Thanks Doug! Are any of those bushes or shrubs medium sized? I am going to put a privacy fence up to that corner of the house, but from the corner to the front of the house some small/medium bushes/shrubs could work. Any suggestions? I live in Toronto so the climate ranges from hot to cold.

The shrubs range from 3 -7 ft: Purple Smoke Bush, Clethra, Baby Blue Cypress, Lambs Ears