Underplanting Gary Oak

Hello
I have written before about this oak tree. And have received much valuable information from this list. Unfortunately, my computer lost its hard drive, so I have lost all this information.
I am now ready to deal with the space underneath this oak - it is a huge tree which is surrounded by concrete and an unfriendly neighbor to the west, and a small area of weedy pulmonaria (evil taproots) that I would like to replace with a more friendly groundcover.
The area gets a little sun in the morning, otherwise is pretty shady and dry once the oak has leafed out. The soil is a beautiful compost of oak and other leaves including the pulmonaria, that have composted without any assistance from me.
One option is to pull up the pulmonaria as best we can and top with about 2 inches of compost or bark dust.
I would love to have something more decorative. Does anyone have any suggestions. The priority is to keep the oak healthy. I live in Portland, OR, Zone 8, in a microclimate that is usually a bit milder than most in the area, and a few blocks from the Willamette river 

Thanks

Anna Ingre
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