Beginner Gardening: looking for suggestions for planting around retaining wall, 1 by blgarden

blgarden wrote:
We have just built a new retaining wall along the side of our house in a space that was eroding heavily. As beginner gardeners, we are looking for suggestions about what to plant above and below the wall. The wall is about 35 feet long, 3 1/2 feet tall. The area gets some sun during the middle of the day, esp. in the summer, and is pretty shady the rest of the time, because the space between the houses is narrow. See pictures attached.

We are looking for something fairly low maintenance, that will also look attractive and grow well in it's location. We are thinking of some kind of shrubs or ground cover, and would like to put something in this fall if possible, but if it is better to plant in the spring what should we do with the space to prepare the soil over the winter? We are located in Lawrence, Kansas.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions!