Gravel, crushed rock or decomposed granite will be the fastest. And relatively easily removed when it comes time for more permanent landscaping.

Thanks!

p.s. When I hear "decomposed granite" it makes me think I should have been saving the tons of dust generated by the remodel process and made a thick pathway out of it! :)

It's not an altogether bad idea to just leave the gravel around the house as much as possible since planting three feet away from the house is a smart move for home maintenance as well. The landscape can make it go away visually quite easily in many situations. You could just cover the gravel with mulch for a standard looking foundation bed. Make for easier plant maintenance too.

If the weather is not hot now and you can water it, probably nothing will be as cheap and easy as a strip of seeded rye. It sprouts very quickly, will be green throughout the winter and will die when next year's heat returns (i.e., it will be automatically out of your way and you can do what you want to do with landscaping next year.) It's only a few bucks for a bag of rye seed and much less work than installing gravel. (Follow directions. Do not apply it too heavily.)

Thanks all. The fire marshall clarified today that a 4" layer of mulch was an OK option, so we're just going to do that for now and use it later when we start our larger landscape plan.