I live in a Zone 5 urban area. My house faces the east and my front yard
receives a great deal of sun. The yard is quite small 25' wide x 15' deep
(at the deepest). It is also elevated above the sidewalk and banded by a
stone retaining wall. Because it is sloped we decided not to have grass in
this area - it is too difficult to mow. We have planted some English ivy
which is doing well. Our biggest problem is our neighbours. We have the
misfortune of living beside people who never ever weed. Their front yard is
an overgrown disaster and unfortunately all their weeds make their way to
our house. Our ivy has grass, dandelions and all sorts of other invasive
and pernicous weeds growing up through it. It is a mess. I want my home to
look nice and am finding it harder and harder to keep up with the influx of
weeds. It's very difficult to remove them from the ivy. Should we rip out
the ivy and try something else? I do have quite a number of rocks at my
disposal and could create an alpine or rockery type of garden if this might
be easier to maintain. Are perennials a good way to go or should we put in
lots of annuals every year? I'm reluctant to spend too much on this area
because we are moving in a year or two. I want the area to have great "curb
appeal" when we sell, but don't have a ton of money to invest in perennials.
Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Jacqui