Between my asphalt driveway and my house is a small strip of bare soil about 12 feet long and 18 inches wide. I'm in Zone 7 and this is on the north side of the house, gets sun 95% of the day, and in the summer is a scorching hot place for any plant. Right now the summer weeds like it.

Its a couple inches lower than the driveway so I'm thinking of building it up a bit and put maybe a 6-8 inch high retaining wall type of configuration. Then I have to decide what to plant there. Something a maximum of 2 feet tall or under with a root system that can deal with such a small space. Preferably a perennial.

Any ideas? Thanks!