Do you mean that this area gets wet when it rains, then dries out? If so, consider a rain garden comprised of native plants that survive such conditions.

@yvonnecmartin it does get wet and dries out, for the most part. My lot is a bit higher than the lot along the wooden fence line so most of the water runoff passes along the other side of the wooden fence. Thanks for your input!

If the gap between fences needs to used as a path even occasionally, a dry stream bed will not be comfortable to walk on and potentially a trip hazard. Bare dirt in a drainage because the lawnmower dude is too lazy to weed whack it isn't great either.

You will now receive one of the exceedingly rare times I will recommend landscape fabric - covered in a layer of gravel. The landscape fabric is not to prevent weeds. It won't, never has and never will prevent weeds. The fabric is too keep the gravel from getting sucked into the dirt. The lawnmower dude will still have to spray the gravel for weeds now and again, but about 75% less than what he has to spray to keep the dirt dead so he won't have to mow it.

Add a few larger rocks in the gravel for a hint of a dry streambed if you like, but if it needs to be a path, it needs to be a walkable path.

What about pachysandra?

Lemont Landscaping · More Info

If it is a path then gravel seems a good option. And it adds an element of security.

Kill weeds & grass growing in the strip and mulch it heavily. Keep it barren as it's more or less an unmaintainable strip.

I'd want privacy and would plant something evergreen, tall and columnar if it wasn't an area that had to be walked on...but if you need to walk there then I agree with houssaon and would put some Pachysandra there, it's tidy and fills in nicely holding back weeds really well. So low maintenance after mature in about 3 years.

Stepping stones set in 59 gravel, or something more organic with a bit of meandering flagstone - set in mulch or perhaps edged with pachysandra as others have said -

57 gravel, not 59.

Plant fruit trees

LOL!! Those would have to be some pretty darn skinny fruit trees to fit into a 2.5' wide space!!

Unless there is an option to move the fence back to the property line, Christopher made the best suggestion........gravel it (landscape fabric optional).

Italian Cypress Trees

Italian Cypress

Cyn427 you are supposed to leave space on the other side of your fence for maintenance purposes. If you don’t then would be trespassing on neighbor’s property to maintain the fence so two feet is good amount to be able to maintain the fence

Houssaon my sister had pachysandra.. snakes like it —a lot

I'm trying to put up a fence in front of our neighbor's chain links (sitting on property line) inside our property and have the same dilemma. Wonder which method you went with and how did it work?

Just curious, but why the space between the fences?