Must be easy maintenance, not mind poor dry soil as the
hedge takes all the goodness and light. Suggest Celandines which will spread, or 'Snow in Summer' an Alpine.

Sorry Diane, have to quarrel with celandines depending on where you live. Round here they get everywhere, flower beds and lawns. They have exploding seed pods to enable them to spread far and wide they only open in the sun so if your hedge bottom is shady you don't get the benefit.And they disappear completely by early summer, leaves and all. I would suggest brunnera or one of the really hardy perennial geraniums (ask your nursery's advice) and perhaps one of the ferns that doesn't mind being dry - dryopteris felis mas for example. If you google ferns dry shade you'll see several sites giving advice for both sunny and shady locations and you can pick one to suit you.

The Celandines clear off here - dont like the sub-standard
clay soil I have to contend with. Ha ha.
Back to the 'Snow in Summer', its a real tough one, winter hardy, and easy maintenance.
Cheap at £1.59 per plant at GCs if you dont want to search for other suggestions.

They are wonderful here Diane as long as they are in the wild. There are sheets of them along the cliff tops and against the blue sea, sometimes with patches of dog violets alongside they are breathtaking.