A friend just recommended lavender as a good option but I’m not sure

What is the sun exposure and is it under the eaves of the house?

Half under eaves of house. Faces east.

Succulents are very forgiving of not being watered all the time and will handle the reflected heat better than the other plants you listed.

They won’t survive the rainy fall/winter/spring though from my experience. The area will still get wet from rain

You have half day sun in a dry, hard to access bed on what may be the leeward side of the house. I think you need to go more xeric too. A sculptural succulent with a gravel mulch could look good, The plant needs to be cold hardy to zone 8. Possibly prostrate rosemary could work as a draping groundcover. Some PNW plant people need to make suggestions.

What does leeward side of the house mean?

The dry side, opposite of the prevailing wind of the windward or wet side of the island. One succulent type plant that will work for you is Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' or 'Bright Edge'.

Id do a dwarf boxwood. they are evergreen.

Boxwood is boring and not xeric.

A jackhammer? Why is this there and must it stay?

The yucca is an excellent suggestion!! Facing east means morning sun only, although the location looks bright. Not an idea situation for lavender but yucca will grow in just about any exposure. I might also include an underplanting of something like sedum 'Angelina' to really pop up the color impact. Both the yucca and sedum are fully hardy here in the PNW and after some initial watering to get established, can pretty much be ignored.

Why don’t you just remove the planter if you hate it?

mint...any kind of mint will take over lol

I would no plant any thing that spreads. Though it looks like it can be watered from above, I'd hestate to add roots and water here. How about large colorful potted shrub, or statuary.

What are the green leaves which seem to be growing healthily in there?

ps. I’ve failed to establish mint many times.

Can you post a picture of the planter from further back? What else is around the planter? (Looks like this might be a back patio?)

You've tried quite a bit. The concrete may be leaching something into the dirt that isn't doing the plants any good.

Remove plants, top off the dirt with a few inches of gravel. Add some interesting specimen rocks, geodes, and petrified wood. Or add an outdoor sculpture. Or an inexpensive "starter bonsai" in an interesting pot to see how it does.

I think I need to see it from furtehr back to understand how this space relates to the house . Why the planter at all in that space . IMO without context there can be no answers .

Try a manzanita, https://xeraplants.com/arctostaphylos/ browse some part sun varieties Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Type Form’ and Arctostaphylos edmundsii ‘Big Sur’

More photos from further back, regardless you need to add some sort of irrigation- a drip system can be cheap and unobtrusive.

This is the back of our house and you can see the planter there on the right side of the deck. It is not possible to remove this giant thing that is attached to our house. I need to live with it and find something that will live in it. There is also no water on this side of the house. The water access is up on the garden on the top right. So there is no easy way to add a drip hose as there is no spot for it to be connected. It’s an oversight on our part that the planter is there. We did not catch it on the drawings.

Thank you for the ideas thus far. I’m going to look them up!

Floral I don’t know what the green is! It pops up each year then dies.

maybe you can turn it into a water feature? liner, fill with water and pump...maybe have it cascade down the sides into something.

Yucca and Sedum Angelina look lovely and hearty!

Will Yucca be okay in PNW rain in fall?

Yes :-) PNW rain is generally greatly exaggerated to begin with so as long as the planter drains (no puddling of water in winter?), the yucca will be fine. Yuccas are planted all over the place here. And the variegated ones like Color Guard or Bright Edge grow more slowly and stay smaller than the solid green types.

Great thanks!!! There is no puddling in the planter.

Does anyone have thoughts on heavenly bamboo as an option?

That could work as well as long as you pick a cultivar that is size appropriate. But the nandina will not be as drought tolerant as the yucca and sedums. You won't be able to rely just on rainfall.

Thanks! I’m going to head out to one of the farther out valley nurseries next week and see what I can find! Feeling more hopeful now.

Your house could definitely have a leeward - dry side - rain shadow in that planter. Without easy water access you have to think xeric. The yucca and sedum Angelina combo would be quite lovely. You have room for at least three yucca.

Only 1/3 of the planter gets wet in rain

You should still do a decorative gravel mulch. The Angelina sedum will grow in and on top of it fine. It is also easy to pull to expose more or less gravel as a third contrasting element of the planting composition.

How thick does the gravel need to be? Trying to think how much I’ll need.

3/4 to 1 inch layer on top of soil is fine. No landscape fabric!!!!!!

Plants acquired and I’m going to also add some hens and chicks that I have all over another area. I think I need to add more soil first though and then try and source some nice rocks. This is what it looks like with dead gone. Soil should be higher?

I see you decided to try planting again. :-) If they don’t “take” this time, what about considering some type of sculpture? You can fill in around with weed barrier topped with river rock/stones.

Get er done. I'm impressed. It looks perfect. The dirt is covered. That is plenty gravel and the finished level below the edge of the cement is good. Yes, the sedum can grow over the curb if it is happy there. It can cover the gravel solid. In time.

Xeric does not mean no water, especially in your dry leeward side bed. Give the plantings a drink every now and again.

How did it work out with your budget?

Plants came to $110

Three bags of new soil was $22

River rocks was 1/4 yard. I had to shovel it in myself but only $26

So all in not bad and under what I was willing to pay. I just hope I can keep it alive!

The changes look good. Please post an update in a few months or so.

And did you know, Yucca filamentosa grows, a beautiful flower stem every so often?

Yes! We actually have quite a few in our neighbourhood. They are lovely

I am late to the party but something you can add for watering is an OLLA ( Ola sp?} which is basically a large clay jar or plastic bottle with tiny holes to bury near plants for slow drip watering I use recycled soda bottles in my patio pots. Fill with water and keep bottle capped to avoid mosquitos. this will keep plants watered for a few days depending on the heat. You can glue together small clay pots and use a saucer for lid or just a clay one. Your big planter might take two,

Pebble mulch is great to keep in moisture and keep rain or watering from splashing mud or up rooting plants. so i hope this helps your new plants thrive.

Well here we are almost two months later. It’s still mostly good but the yucca don’t seem super happy. I’ve cut away dead dry bits. I water less than once a week. Do I need to do more/less?

You added a cordyline? Sedum Angelina and the yucca have grown. Yucca does an annual growth flush of new leaves. In summer for me. Then no new leaves until next year.

No need to cut off the dry bits. Looks fine. Water amount will depend on rain and soil moisture. Look under the gravel and adjust your watering if needed, but a good watering once a week sounds fine.

Yes it was in a pot in another spot and it’s buddy died so I needed a new spot for it. Seems content for now.