My new home has an area that is about 275ft x 30ft in front of the house
(essentially the length of the lot and about 30ft deep). It is uneven and
strewn
with large bolders.

The previous owner of the house took a very costly approach. The area
has a fair amount of trees, some random shrub plantings, and is covered from
end to end with mulch (wood chips). The previous owner told me it cost
about $2000 to put down mulch along this entire area. Well I was fortunate
enough to find
a free supply of wood chips, as long as I was willing to spread them myself.
Five truckloads (and over a month later), and
I've finally finished "chipping" the area.

This is unmanageable as far as I'm concerned, but I'm at a loss as to
how to improve the situation.

1) Grass - preparing the land (tree removal, bolder removal, fill) is too
expensive.
2) Ground cover - Seems that I either have to spend a fortune for an acre of
the stuff, or wait the remainder of my life for a little bit to spread out.

There's a picture of the area at

http://www.panix.com/~nradisch/yard.jpg

The area curves a bit, but the very end can be seen at the top of the
picture.


Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Neil