Sounds like a great idea to me...
Just be sure you're not in a neighborhood where this could be a problem. Some folks don't like anyone to break the uniformity, you know. But lawns are so over-rated as far as I am concerned.

Look into 'lasagna gardening' and see about layering as much organic matter down +before+ that top layer of mulch. This could make your job so much easier in the coming seasons.

Sounds like an option to me. I might go so far as to Round-Up all the ivy, especially if, as you said, it is growing up into the trees. I would also cut the stems where it goes up the trees, whether or not you RU it, as it will eventually smother the trees, same as Kudzu, but slower. After all, you can't RU in the trees too well, and since ivy will root wherever it touches the ground, it's REALLY hard to kill off or discourage. If you like the ivy, then using a lawnmower or weedwhacker on it to keep it low and in bounds might be an idea - and something you would have to do only a few times a year, much less often than mowing the lawn.

Just be aware that mulching does not end ALL weeding - you will get weeds, both from the deep-rooted perennial weeds already there (if any) and from the seeds that come in with the wind and the birds. You can use RU on them, or go around every few weeks and pull them. Especially after rain, pulling small weeds is pretty easy, it's when you let them get big that it gets hard. And large weeds that have been sprayed with RU are pretty obvious as they turn brown.

A single layer of cardboard will kill off the grass, and most of the ivy, if you overlap the edges, but the ivy and weeds like honeysuckle or brambles can escape out the sides. I would put the mulch NO MORE than 4 inches thick under the trees, that is, from 2-3 inches out from the trunk to the edge of the drip-line, where the branches end. That way, you will run no risk of either smothering the tree-roots, nor of having the feeder roots start to grow up into the mulch, which is not a good idea. Having mulch right up against the trunk is also not a good idea, as it invites rot and fungus - maybe not immediately, but eventually the trees would die, sooner than they would otherwise. The mulch elsewhere can be thicker, but more than 6 inches doesn't do any more good than more than 4 inches, and it costs money.

Using a double-ground wood mulch (bark chips are very coarse, and tend to float away with heavy rain, the single ground has large lumps and branches in it, and the triple ground is almost too fine) would probably be the cheapest and easiest; avoid the dyed mulches, unless you REALLY want it - the dye comes off on everything when fresh, and it looks really fake. If you want to delineate a pathway, though, the black mulch does do a good job with that, without you actually having to MAKE a path, digging and leveling, etc.. Unless you want to designate different areas to make the whole area less of a mass, or for paths, you might as well use the one type of mulch throughout - it makes life a LOT easier if it's all the same, in the initial spreading, and in replacing mulch, which you will have to do in a few years as the old stuff rots, so you don't have to carefully try to keep 2 types separate.

Unless it rains a lot after you lay the cardboard and mulch down, I would water the area well after laying it down, both to keep things in place, and to start things out well watered under the mulch. Keeping the edges of the cardboard well covered is also a good thing - it acts as a wick and dries things out horribly, otherwise. And I would pull off as much of the tape and plastic off the boxes as I could before I laid them down, or you will be picking it up in the years to come, as it works its way to the surface - plastic does NOT rot.

Remember, if you plant bulbs, you have to let the leaves grow on and die down naturally, so you get healthy bulbs for next years' flowers. If you don't want to look at dieing leaves, then site them well, so the leaves are hidden by other plants as the other plants grow. Or, you can clip the leaves off, and treat the bulbs as annuals, replacing them every fall. Some may come back from year to year, but most will just get smaller and smaller, and probably produce leaves only with no flowers.

I actually kind of like the ivy and trees, although I never would have planted them myself. They are so advanced in growth that they look sort of romantic. I want to get rid of the grass surrounding the already planted flowerbeds and ivy bed, but leave both of those beds intact.

I understand that the ivy is not good for the trees, but after 16 years of growth- I can't even imagine the job tearing it down would involve. Sorry my posting was confusing.

I have loved using the lasagna gardening in small areas- I learned about it here on Gardenweb and investigated the internet. One area I created grew the best tomatoes this year that I could have dreamed of. I watered very little. Worms are going mad and my shrubs are happy.

I have about a week to dedicate to laying down the cardboard, etc- and gather mulch. After that, I am undergoing some pretty major ankle surgery and can only look at it for several months. I hoped that by getting this work done in fall, I would discourage many of the weeds and seeds for spring. I can also handle spraying the occassional weed, it's a lot less work than mowing!

To be frank, I dislike grass and hate having it messy at the wrong times when I have invited people over. I hired a man to mow and he does a great job, but it seems like such a waste to trim and edge grass when I don't even like the look of it! Unless somebody posts some drawbacks, I'm going for it. My neighborhood won't mind- thank goodness. Hey- one more benefit? never raking again! haha That small number of leaves that drop from these three trees would just blend with my mulch. The whole idea of basically making my front yard into an extended plantable flowerbed really excites me!

From my experience - you want to keep the mulch layer thin, like around an inch deep. If it is deeper than that the mulch breaks down quickly and you get weeds sprouting in it as it turns to soil. By keeping it shallow it dries out quicker and takes a long long time to break down. I mulch large areas of my yard and hardly ever have to weed them (the rest of the yard is solid weeds!). I put down multiple layers of landscape fabric and put the mulch on top of that. I also rake fallen leaves from the trees on top of the mulch. They eventually break down and I go in and rake things smooth and thin.

For areas where I need to pull a lot of weeds (edges and inside flower beds) I use a lot of mulch and keep it deep and fluffy. Makes pulling the weeds very easy to do.

As much as English Ivy is a no-no, I have it and encourage it around the yard. I like the way it climbs out on top of the mulch and spreads even in the dark corners of the yard. It grows where nothing else will. I won't allow it to climb up trees though. Like a few other plants, the ivy you see growing along the ground is the juvenile stage (leaves in fancy shapes and non-blooming). When allowed to climb up a surface (trees or walls) it will shift into adult growth (leaves simple and tear drop shaped) and bloom and set seed. The seeds are poisonous to us but candy to birds which is why you see this plant growing everywhere.

If you aren't trying to improve the soil, then you can use landscape fabric, and keep it covered thinly, as John suggested. The only thing getting through it will be water from the rain. You will have to weed out anything that grows from seed on top of the mulch, and letting them get big can result in roots growing into and through the fabric, meaning you will pull up the fabric as you pull the weed. Same as with the cardboard, you HAVE to overlap the pieces of fabric; pinning them down with earth-staples wouldn't hurt, as the fabric tends to be a bit slippery and you can pull/push it out of place if and as you walk on it.

Planting in the future is a bit dicier also - you have to uncover and cut back the fabric, folding the edges under, to dig your hole and plant your plant. And if your bulbs will multiply, you need now to cut the hole in the fabric large enough to let the new ones come up, when you plant the bulbs.

The fabric, being plastic, will be there years from now, while the cardboard will break down in 3-9 months, depending on the conditions. Depending on the variety of fabric, you may have to keep it well covered with mulch, and not let it be exposed to the sun - I have seen some older fabrics begin to fall apart into little pieces of plastic from the UV exposure.

As you may gather, I prefer cardboard to the landscape fabric. I would, however, use the fabric under a path, etc, wherever I never want anything to grow.

John's right. Ivy is invasive once it goes to seed (vertical), and it's a danger to our native plants in forest. I've seen a tree full of the stuff miles into undeveloped land - the birds spread the seed very efficiently once it goes to seed and forms berries. Easy to clip on tree trunks.

I have a little grass, mostly to frame the garden, but I hate it too. However, nature abhors a vacuum, and it won't be zero maintenance to have nothing. Shrubs and small trees will help, cuz many weeds need sun and won't even sprout in shade. Be careful with round-up, cuz it kills amphibians once it's drained off your place into the "street drain", which ends up in local rivers. I use it too, but try to minimize it for this reason.

You might want to try a rain garden or a "swale" to have low maintenance, attractive shrubs, and keep some of that run-off water from running into the rivers - also helpful in conserving water so you don't have to water your plants during drought. I am slowly installing "eyelash swales" (google it if you're curious- 3 months ago I didn't know what the heck it was) throughout the property, and I can already see my dry shaded woodland becoming a moister environment.

http://www.harvesth2o.com/swales.shtml

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/design/2004sp_raingardens.html

Here is a link that might be useful: rain garden and swale

I buy the cheap landscape fabric and when I want to plant something I just chop it with the shovel. It does break down in one season if exposed to sunlight. There are different kinds out there and most you have to use scissors to cut but the cheap stuff poses no problem for my dull shovel blade.

I forgot to mention that every couple of years you have to remove the old mulch and apply new fresh mulch to help with the weed problem. As long as the mulch is coarse and rough it is fine but once it starts to break down the seeds will sprout and you're back to the original problem.

SOme friends of mine have a beautiful front yard with no grass at all. They have several meandering paths, lots of shrubs such as azelea, rhodos, small evergreens, beatiful rock "formations", a water feature, and several understory trees, as well as many woodland plants and flowers. Their yard is under a canopy of large oaks, but I don't see why you couldn't do the same with a sunny site. It is nice that they don't have to deal with the fall leaves so much either. I think they started with several paths, then added beds, rock features and shrubs to accent the paths.

John- Thanks for the tips on mulching. I'll be sure to keep it a thin layer and to keep an eye on replacing it. The landscape fabric I purchased before requires scissors if I cut it for planting, but I'll investigate different kinds. I also really enjoy my cardboard-begun areas.

Dogridge- you seem to have the right idea for my vision. I have been gathering mulch and will begin soon. I can't wait to watch the old fashioned shrubs unfolding with gorgeous flowers and leaf textures!

I haven't read all of the above, so please forgive me if I repeat what's already been said. Anyway, I'm in Raleigh on a typical tenth of an acre with not a blade of grass front yard and back.

Started out w/builder provided 'turf' and dusted that real fast. I admit to having Pros do the heavy lifting and design (had major drainage issues way beyond my abilities) - and they started by deep tilling it all up, amending the soil and sculpting the yards/gardens and did the heavy lifting hardscape (stonework). They did the basic design and have tolerated my fumbling additions ever since.

Four years into it now and my grassless back gardens are a wonderful jungle - front yard is catching up, still gives me pause to ponder, room to experiment. As the yards mature, weeds seem to be backing off - the 'real' plants are overshadowing them, but it definitely took time.

We used no landscape cloth or such, just truckloads of 'rotted leaf mulch' applied regularly which, over the years have broken down to rich soil. I maintain front and back yards organically (incorrigible Japanese beetles have a field day, but other than that, no pest problems).

Usually, my Garden Elves (landscapers) do a put to bed maintenance and trimming when all is dormant, then a spring wake up w/ new mulch and a bit of tweaking. Given the nutsey weather we've had, I am totally clueless as to when what will be done this year !?

Oh, and btw, natural yards encourage bird populations and what a trip they are to watch! Guess I've officially become an 'old fogey; .... but it is such fun and so rewarding ! :o)