The thing is that there may not be a perfect way to do what you want to do. Several of your points seem contradictory. Maybe they are, maybe not? So I went through your original post looking for what appear to be must-have priorities and things that raised questions. "Most importantly, we need some kind of path to the driveway so we're not walking through wet grass." If this is "most important", then figure out what floats your boat to make this access path from garage to home work for you. It's probably a trip you take multiple times a day. You probably don't want a material that'll track inside. You sound like you'd prefer a material that minimizes weeds. Focus on what this path needs to be. You've already floated your own thought of more extensive hardscape. Concrete is one of the better weed barriers (smile), but xeroscape plants for your zone do exist, so a paved path through ground covers could work. Think lantana, buffalo grass, liriope. "We don't want to build any structures as it'll block the view of our city's Tower of the Americas (and our main fireworks viewing site)." No structures? And, I suppose, no shade trees since they'd block the view, too? But you want shade. I know Texas. Grew up in OK. Grad school plus internship in Austin, then Houston. Yep ... I know the Texas sun. So, I KNOW you want shade. It comes in two forms outside: Something alive makes it or something manufactured makes it. If you go fancy, as in a pergola, you combine both. But decent shade comes from a structure or a tree. If I had 60 days of temps in excess of 100 deg., I'd stay inside. So, I'm thinking that you are speaking of your milder 90 and 80 degree days, as well as "winter". Still, I'd be wantin' shade. So, how many days in the year is shade of interest? How many days are you watching fireworks? Or, do you watch the show from the comfort of the AC inside? What about a screened gazebo as a viewing platform? Or retractable awnings? Or, and these are kinda wimpy in the face of TX sun, a pool-side table with umbrella? "Permanent structures: garage, 4 trees, driveway. Everything else *could* move." Apparently not. My guess is that you have already thought through your options and if someone, like Isabel above, comes along and says combine herb, vegie garden, and compost area, you will have reasons that only you know at this point for not making the change. We could suggest, but I'm betting that a few more things in the picture are not moveable. Just a few cogitations. 2 cents worth, but might be worth less ...

i can certainly feel your pain in this one. when i moved to my home, the outside (i won't even comment on the inside) had not been touched for 12 to 15 years. the house was owned by a woman in her mid 90's when i purchased it. other than her front lawn (which no longer exists), nothing, and i mean nothing, had been touched. my yard, was an absolute jungle. it took me a year to get it to a forrest, another year and it became a plain tapestry for me to start from scratch. the sad part was she had everything and everything growing and i was really able to only salvage about 10% of it. all that could be salvaged, i took my chain saw and buzzed them down to ankle level. they grew back and are now managable. i hated it in the beginning, but it was the only way. i made the big mistake of working everywhere, in all directions, as opposed to properly working one area at a time. then the light bulb went off and that's what i did - concentrate in one area at a time. i started with my front, ripped out all those nasty hedges and yews and dead azaleas. i have no grass now, it's beautifully landscaped (if i do say so myself) and laid a path to the back. from there i worked on other sections. i'm in my house almost 11 years and i'm not done. from what i understand, you are never done. i still have one problem area, but cement is really starting to look good LOL - it is probably the only part i will ever have done professionally, because i need a bobcat to come in, dig and level. the one thing i did learn was how to separate all the perennials, i also took whatever anyone gave me - especially if they grew well, and put them in where ever i ripped something out. that's one of the things i highly recommend. if you are weeding an area, make sure you put something in it's place to force weeds out completely. split your hostas, iris, as well as those native orange lilies (oeople call them ditch lilies), sedums work well too. under some of the trees, kill off the grass and lay mulch - even that playground mulch and here and there put little sitting areas or even that ground ivy or pachysandra. there's so much you can do. as for your downed trees, cut some of the trunk enough to bury a little in the ground for it to become stepping stones. the wood that remains that is "rotted" rent a chipper and have it ground up and then mix that with some good dirt and use that as mulch. (you might want that to sit for a year). read up on lasagne gardening and it will save you digging and weeding. start now and by fall, you can get a boatload of bulbs in it and it's one last area to worry about come spring. my biggest suggestion to you - as a fellow gardener - is DON'T GIVE UP. i know an old house in and of itself is a royal PITA, but gardening shouldn't be - it's such great therapy. best of luck to you. i always keep a shovel and gloves in my hand, so....if i'm passing by, i'll stop and dig and weed for ya :) just have some...

We've been fighting grapes (three different wild types) on our fence for almost a year. We also cut them back twice before resorting to an herbicide. Good results have come from carefully painting the foliage with Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus. We each took an end and worked toward the middle. We used really long hemostats and cotton balls, dipping into a jar of the concentrated herbicide to paint it on. The second application, 6 weeks after the initial one seems to have taken the mustang grape completely out and knocked the others back. I truly hope that we don't need a third application. The canna and elephant ears are returning healthy after being cut to the ground so that we could get to the fence.

The easy options involve either a bulldozer or a relatively heavy tractor with ripper blades and/or a box blade. It would take about a morning to clear that out if there are no other obstacles like trees or porches.