What can I do with this pointless strip of garden?

[HerRoyalNotness]

Actually I think it is there for the sprinklers to keep the foundation from cracking...

It had grass in it and annoyed me every day looking at it.

Soil is clay, I'm thinking of use small stones/gravel for the "mulch", soil is clay. It gets full sun for quite a good time. We're in Texas so gets super hot in summer and not too cold over winter. I can look up any suggestions of plants for the planting zones here.

It's about 27ft long and 1ft at widest part, tapering to uselessness.

I'm stumped!

If it was my strip of pointless garden, I would probably dig it out a bit, put some stuff down to stop weeds from growing through, and put either slate chippings or ornamental stone chips.

Maybe plant a pretty climber to decorate the wall a bit?

Could you plant cactus or succulents? You would need to add sand or something to the clay.

I'd do the same as red. Maybe some wood chips which would retain some moisture to help stop the walls drying out and cracking. You could put a pot or two on the 1st wide bit.

We lived in Texas for a few years, I do miss watering the house with sprinklers as well as the lawn . I also miss growing tomatoes, chillis, peppers, squash, basil and all sort outside ...

I know someone here who had a similar border strip. They planted all different types of hebes, starting from large to small. Could you do something similar?

I did think about succulents jawe. I'll see how much sand if have to add, I've dug down about an inch or so and don't fancy having to dig more out. Also will look at Hebrew.

Briefly wondered if I could actually plant tomatoes and runner beans etc in it but the DC won't eat them

Ha this autocorrect is ace! Don't think I'll plant Hebrew there, might get chucked out by the HOA

Daisies and things that would break up the edge a bit would look nice.

lavender and rosemary and sage and thyme lovely sunny dry spot for them

Moss rose/portaluca might make it there.

I'd not bother though. Just fill with pea gravel & forget it.

Turns out I can only buy Hebe from Oregon, shame as I quite like them

Leaning towards some climbing veg and herbs is a good idea too, definitely need some colour along there

I like the portiluca too. Some good suggestions there, thanks!

I think I'd gravel it too. It looks like a spot that would absolutely bake with the reflected heat from the path and the wall - which I suspect would be far too dry and nutrient-poor for veg. (You don't want to be watering constantly and it'd be difficult to get enough water down there anyway). You could try very drought-tolerant plants like sedums, which are used to poor soil.

When I saw your thread title, my first reaction was to think " no strip of garden is pointless " , but I DO think you have quite a challenge there !

The problem is that most of us posting here garden in a temperate maritime climate and have no idea what plants do well in your zone 7/8. I think you need more local advice . This blogger is from Dallas and has some good ideas

signaturegardens.blogspot.co.uk

And maybe some of her links would be useful too. Worth checking out