oh the dogs arent doing alot of running on it (pugs arent generally super active-lol) but they do like to run up their to see their friends (dogs) in the yard behind us abit.

Jilliebean,
Ornamental grass. Something that will get tall and have pretty plumes. Won't bother the dogs, great for holding the soil, looks nice even in winter if you don't touch it and leave the plumes on. I cut mine down in February and by April, it is almost up to 4 feet already.
I have the striped grass, it has white plumes. Pretty.

unfortunately my husband dislikes the look of the ornamental grasses.anyone have other ideas??

Maybe Red Tip Phontinia as a hedge? Periwinkle might be good for your slope. Established plants can handle the traffic! :)

i wonder if we might have some of these in our front yard-they look similar....they were here when we moved in 5 yrs ago. they have white flowers & berries and the leaves are reddish & then turn green -now i will have to take a closer look. ty

what about Privets Ligustrum sp. grows great little care and you get fragrant blooms late may (expect lots of bees),...

NOOO! DO NOT PLANT PRIVETS/Ligustrum! Sorry for the shouting. It's a terribly invasive species and to boot one of the worst allergans known. I can barely go outside when my neighbor's forest of it (that's there b/c of birds) blooms. Right when's spring's the prettiest. Just kills me that every place that sells plants promotes this thug!

thanks for the warning

Nix the photinea also. Nobody plants that anymore because of the spraying of mildewcides and fungicides required.

I have creeping flax. It's so pretty when it blooms. I also have periwinkle. Snowball bushes grow very quickly! They would be beautiful all in a row.
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Vinca/perwinkle can be a monster - I have seen wooded areas that were full of it when it "escaped". I would not recommend it unless you were using a very defined area (like a circle surrounded by concrete!).

The first picture above is creeping "phlox", not flax. Phlox subulata is the name and it is a native plant that is usually available in the spring in stores but not much during other times of the year.

Sorry, I just noticed that you wanted bushes that were evergreen. Ooops! :)

Jilliebean,
I planted Sweet olive shrubs around my house for privacy.
Try to buy them larger, they are medium growers, only a couple feet a year for privacy.
They are evergreen, nontoxic to your babies, and they smell sooo good when they bloom in fall and spring.
I know they are hardy to your zone and prefer full sun.
I also have a wax myrtle bush, which after 3 years is relly starting to take off.
Wax myrtle is native, there is a good chance it would do well in your zone, and very little care, just water if it doesn't rain for 2 weeks.
They are truly beautiful and evergreen.
I also planted a green giant arborvatie, I just planted it, so I don't know how it will handle our strong sun, I will try. I wanted a dark green evergreen for the winter when everything is dead.
I have some suggestions for a ground cover, but you are going to have a problem with dogs always on it, I would make a serious attempt to sod it with a good hardy grass for your area to handle the dogs.

You're right esh_ga! It's just that I've always called it that - I make up my own words to songs as well. :) Thanks for reminding me as to why I don't post here very often. My apologies for trying to help.

I'd stay away from sweet autumn olive- it's also an invasive here. It is pretty and has edible berries for people and the birds- but that's the problem. At least it doesn't trigger allergies. Wax myrtles are a great idea.

I second esh's caution about periwinkle- i planted it on our hillside and have since decided to go more native in that area and now am faced with pulling it all out. It has spread far beyond what i wanted. It can handle full sun and most likely the pugs once it was established. Same goes for ivy- it turns into a real problem before long. Really, you have to be careful with almost any groundcover- the qualities that make them good groundcovers can also make them get out of hand fast. Just knowing that is half the battle, though. If you plant something native (like ajuga), then at least you don't have to feel bad if it gets rambunctious. I tolerate to actively encourage creeping charlie in my back yard as an alternative to grass (it's nonnative, but endemic). Another native that could probably take the abuse is virginia creeper. It has nice fall color. It climbs, but on a slope would crawl. Daylilies may be too grass like but would give you flowers and do well at stabilizing slopes. They aren't evergreen, though. Phlox is made for that situation- except i don't know that it could hold up to dog abuse. Same goes for sedums. Vetches are used up north for stabilizing slopes along highways but i've not seen them used that way down here. Not sure if they don't like the heat or what. They are very tough. If your hub doesn't like grass you could try clover. Or a mix of clover and grass.

puddle, please don't stop posting just because you don't know the names for things! The only way to learn is to post and be corrected. Goodness knows, i often remember one or 2 syllables of a latin name and sort of fill in the rest from memory- almost never correctly (and get corrected a lot ;). So you're in good company. Triangle John's been known to do the same... LOL

puddle, wasn't trying to make you feel bad. But if jilliebean wants to research your suggestion more (because it is a good plant), then she'll need the real name for it.

osmanthus fragrans, aka 'sweet tea olive' is not invasive. (I have many of these and they are truly fragrant in spring and in fall, evergreen, deer resistant, but it can take 5 years for a 3 gallon pot to make a screen)

eleagnus angustifolius aka 'sweet olive' 'Russian olive' is potentially invasive.

eleagnus umbellata aka 'autumn olive' is potentially invasive.

The only way I have managed to keep my periwinkle in check is by keeping it from setting runners/keeping it short and bushy vs. stringy and sprawling. If runners set it ends up all in the grass around the contained area I have it in.

For the screen, I would plant Chindo Viburnum.
For the groundcover, one of the low junipers.

I planted a screen of arborvitae for privacy and they look Beautiful. What did you end up doing?

Gene, they are beautiful aren't they?
Be vigilant in your search in the foliage for bagworms which did in several of mine so they needed replacing.
Some years they are really bad other years they're gone.
You can pull off the tiny twig 'bags' and stomp on them but the silk that attaches it to the arborvitae is tightly wound around the twig. If it's on an important branching area you can try to scissor it off other wise expect some later twig death and clip those parts off.
Spraying to kill the eggs laid by the moth is probably the best preventative to prevent the larval damage that occurs before you even see a suspended bag on a twig.

Thanks Dottie. Is there a particular month that you would recommend spraying for bagworm or does it matter? Also, these trees LOVE water and do not seem to mind sun.

unfortunately we didnt plant anything yet. we had our dishwasher break and it leaked water ruining the kitchen floor. the floor had to be replaced so my plant budget went to that!! my FIL and husband did nearly finish the deck in the back which means this year i have a more defined area to plant,however!

I would go with the sweet olives. I have them and they make a wonderfully dense privacy screen and the smell is more than heavenly. Osmanthus fragrans. Not in any way invasive. Quite wonderful and evergreen. Denise

I was at my local nursery today and really liked the Ilex Cornuta Fine Line Holly. Quite inexpensive relative to other plants and i thought they had a really nice look. I purchased several to put in my side lot to replace some scraggly looking old shrubs. You might like the look of these if you google them.