You really have two separate issues, the grub problem and what to grow as a groundcover. Is this in place of the lawn for the whole yard? If so, grass is probably easiest as far as maintenance if you deal with the grub issue. Milky spore disease or nematodes are two nontoxic ways to deal with grubs, and if you are in the warmer end of New England Milky spore will involve one application that takes a couple of years to build up to good effectiveness. I imagine that the grubs will cause problems for other plants than grass, though I am not sure that would be the case for all plants. I always work better from a photo or at least a description of the area: size, growing zone, how much work you are willing to do, aesthetic preferences. Do you want the look of all the same or do you want a variety so that it looks more like a garden? Are you willing to put in some type of barrier and do the work needed to keep the ground cover from migrating from your yard to the neighbors' if you share boundaries? (In the case of aggressive running groundcovers, good barriers make for more friendly neighbor relations.) Are you open to shrubby groundcovers? What kind of ordinances does your city have about lawns? What is the drainage like (are you on a slope, does water pond in the area you are considering, have you done a percolation test?) Does it have to be evergreen or is a plant that dies to the ground in winter OK, especially if you renew the mulch after freeze to keep it tidy looking? Some general comments and suggestions: Getting rid of the grass and controlling weeds for the time until your groundcover gets established will be a lot of work. For many groundcovers, mulch will be your friend. Improving the soil with a combination of coarse and finer organic matter may open up more plant choices, depending on how much clay is in your soil and what the slope is like. My first thought was also periwinkle/myrtle/Vinca. The house I grew up in had Pachysandra growing in clay in sun until shortly after noon, but had bright shade from the house in the hottest part of the day, so I am not sure how this will do. Evergreen Bugleweed/Ajuga reptans will grow in full sun, and isn't fussy about soil. Evergreen, flowers, colored foliage. Bishop's weed/goutweed/Aegopodium podagraria has a variegated form that is a good groundcover that is tolerant of many growing conditions. My inlaws have it growing on a dry sunny slope, but I have also seen it in half day sun on clay and in full shade. If drainage is good, some sedums, thymes, creeping cottoneaster (woody), creeping Juniper (woody, evergreen), or one of the lower growing Nepeta/catmints might work. Cranberry doesn't need a bog to grow, just averge moisture, so if your soil is acid it might work with mulch. Evergreen Mazus reptans might work. Bearberry/Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Massachusetts' (woody, evergreen) Cutleaf Stephanandra/Stephanandra incisa ‘Crispa’ woody, fall color In a smaller area, perennial candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) may work. Evergreen. If a taller groundcover is OK, and you don't mind a area that is bare of plants in winter, it's hard to beat old-fashioned orange daylilies. The photo is of a daylily bed just starting to sprout in the spring. The mulch is renewed after die-back in the winter and helps control weeds and erosion and keeps things looking tidy when there's no snow.

You've gotten some good plant suggestions so far, including to do a mixture, which is usually my preference if the area will be visible. T2D's front slope mixed planting is gorgeous. Perhaps she'll add a photo or two. Vinca should be fully hardy for you since it is for me. However, I find it crawls over my barrier (a 5" deep band of edging material with a row of bricks alongside) and roots in the lawn, so I wouldn't recommend it. This might be a good spot for variegated bishop's weed(Aegopodium), which is normally a pest since it doesn't play well with others, but if you want just one kind of plant, put a barrier around the bed and it should be OK. You could plant bulbs to come up through it. This might be evergreen for you, not sure. Ajuga would work and you could try some of the more resiliant coral bells(Heuchera) I have a rather steep bed in an area behind the house that isn't in our normal traffic pattern that I needed to fill quickly to prevent erosion, and since I had a bunch of the old-fashioned daylilies that I had dug up elsewhere in the garden, I used those. I'm now adding a few shrubs and other hardy perennials that I think will be willing to duke it out with the daylilies. Old-fashioned daylillies aren't evergreen, but they might be something you'd want to throw into a mixed bed as they are fine with full sun and don't need lots of water. Regardless of what you end up planting in the bed, prevention of weeds while your plants get established is really important. You want to kill everything that's currently growing there, whether by smothering it (do a search for lasagna gardening) or by covering it with black plastic for a couple of months or whatever method you choose. After planting, you might want to put down corn gluten which will discourage seeds from germinating and then a heavy layer of mulch on all the bare soil areas both to keep moisture in and prevent light from reaching the weed seeds and bits of roots that are in all soils and will sprout with light. Mulch will also prevent erosion until the soil is covered with plants and make any weeds that do come up easier to pull. Also, install your outer barrier either before you plant or just after since if you delay and grass crawls sideways into the bed, you will battle it forever. Here's a previous thread that might help you out: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/neweng/msg0317034129496.html Here is a link that might be useful: New England groundcover FAQ

Lacey's point is well made :-)) There really isn't any other type of groundcover more suited to this large expanse of real estate than turf grass nor would be as well-suited to play and traffic from kids and pets. Turf grasses - lawns - are really the ultimate in low maintenance and inexpensive GC's to cover large, mostly flat, open areas. I'd suggest you contact your local extension office as to what sort of grasses would work best for you - they could differ considerably depending on location and I am not familiar enough with your area and its climate to make specific suggestions. Most areas that tolerate or recommend cool season grasses recommend blends or mixes of various types of grasses that offer different characteristics at different times of the year. Cool season grasses - if appropriate to your area - offer the benefit of going dormant in summer so mowing frequency is reduced during that period. They also require less water during this period of dormancy as well, as long as a somewhat dried, browinsh look is tolerated. They green up again promptly with cooler temps and more rainfall in fall. But also start growing again as well :-) Sorry, but you cannot escape the need for frequent mowing unless you select some sort of meadow grass.

I will second the Biokovo Geranium, though in my garden it grows slower in full sun than with a bit of shade. Similar results with Geranium Karmina. A few other groundcovers I have in full sun: Groundcover Dianthus aka pinks such as D. gratianopolitanus/cheddar pinks, ‘Firewitch, and ‘Greystone’. Not all pinks are Groundcover plants, but the first two I listed are fairly commonly available in nurseries. Sedums such as Angelina are worth checking out if your soil is reasonably well drained. Bearberry/Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is low, spreading shrub that didn’t exceed 8” or so in my garden. Check out some of the types of low cotoneaster which are evergreen such as C. microphyllusand C. dammeri. Even the ones that aren't evergreen may have persistent berries. Groundcovers both for sun and shade are a common topic on the New England forum here on Houzz&GardenWeb. So I did a search on that forum for Groundcover as one word and as two and you will have a wealth of possibilities. Pay attention to comments about ones like Vinca or wintercreeper Euonymus that can be both garden thugs which will try to take over the lawn and are invasive, spreading into wild areas and displacing natives. New England groundcovers New England ground covers