Sorry, getting used to the image posting:

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Interesting, so you want to de-landscape!

For the areas that are convertible to lawn, you simply need to rip out the plants and seed over.

But most of the beds don't look convertible to lawn, so it looks to me like you have two choices, really: hardscape or ground cover.

Well, I guess a third option is to learn how to maintain it. Are you interested in doing that at all? It looks as though several groundcovering plants are pretty well established, and if you nurture them, weeding should be minimal. You can take out other perennials and concentrate on pruning.

Some more photos would help.

KarinL

I build docks for a living and spring/summer as you can imagine is my busy time. I wish I had more time to dedicate to my own yard.

I'd like to come up with something that could be maintained requiring no more than a few hours each week. ie: cut grass 1 hr., and 1 hr for everything else.

Here are some additional pictures:

Picture 1 - 5 hours of clearing/pulling vine like plant shown in picture two. It seems to root itself and spread all over.

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Picture 2 - This stuff beat me up. I got rid of what was on the surface but I'm sure there is more underneath. How do I get rid of this for good?
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Picture 3 - there is rip-rap (rock) under this ground cover to help with erosion cause from rain coming through the culvert in center of these rail road ties.
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Picture 3- View from street area. Need to remove some rock and grind some stumps. Was thinking about planting grass seed here.
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Picture 4- View from street to front of house. I'm going to remove most of the smaller tree's and grind their stumps. Was going to put grass or ground covering here but still not sure.
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Picture 4
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Picture 5- Other side of driveway. Lots of stuff growing up in between ground cover.
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I'm no landscape pro, and sadly, not even a Southerner any more...

But if prior owner was a master gardener, they probably knew what they were doing. To me, it looks awfully shady and tree'd -- not a great place for grass, but a great place for ground cover.

Ground covers need to be weeded now and then, but not weekly. In New England, the best time to weed is early spring when weeds just start coming up -- possibly before your work gets too crazy. OR, I hate to say spend $$, but I wonder if a couple of paid clean-ups a year would be a fair trade-off for a couple of hours per week of relaxation time during your busy season.

If that's ivy, which I think it is immoral to plant anywhere, then I do dare to question the master gardener's masterfulness. Yup, it's a b**** to remove. Takes persistence, repeated efforts, or chemicals.

Regarding the landscaping, well, here's the thing. You have a property that is not condusive to lawn for many reasons - slope, trees, culvert. Yet you want lawn. To get plants to grow where they are not well suited, whether the plant is grass or anything else, is a labour-intensive proposition. If your vision is of cruising around the lot on your riding mower for an hour per week, you've basically got the wrong property. What you'll be doing if you seed all this over is watering almost constantly, and juggling weeding, aerating, moss control, and overseeding with mowing.

All property requires maintenance to look good. Even hardscape needs sweeping. Groundcovers of all types, including grass, need trimming and weeding.

The variety of terrains you have there means that no one plant, including grass, is going to meet all your needs. Putting the right plant in the right place in each instance will minimize maintenance, but it will consist of different tasks in different places.

The process of picking the right plant for the right place can be an arduous one; certainly in a case like this it requires some knowledge of plants and study of the site.

Here's the irony: the least labour-intensive option on the slope is probably to let those trees grow, and have a mature woodland out there. Very little will grow in the dense shade and with the root competition those trees will soon provide if they don't already, nor will it avoid suffocation under the annual drop of leaves. You'd have trouble establishing any plant there, including grass (and it would be hard to mow on that slope), so why not make that work for you?

Many ground covers can be mowed too. But that ivy, I'd keep after and get rid of.

KarinL

Ivy will not succumb easily. Roundup won't do much to it (in my experience.) You'll need heavier-duty chemicals...like Brushmaster. Or you can learn to live with the ivy...

One key to keeping ANY ground cover looking decent is to either weed it in the spring, or use a weed whacker with a blade to cut off everything that grows ABOVE it every six weeks or so. (Shouldn't take TOO long.) We have a slope similar to yours covered in periwinkle. Also not considered pc--but not as heinous as English ivy. We use the weed whacker regime. Works for us...

melanie