For 20+ years we've done minimal upkeep of the landscaping right in front of the house. It was overgrown with shrubs/bushes and weeds. Similarly, the weeds would grow through the gaps between the concrete slabs of the walkway leading to our front door. Every year I'd pull weeds and prune the shrubs and bushes, but it was a never ending job.
This year, I decided we'd invest a little money into cleaning it all up. I ripped everything out, scorched Earth approach. I dug everything out, put down high concentration of strong weed/vegetation killer, and weed barrier. I had 3 tons of rubber mulch delivered from HD, and was making multiple trips a week to Lowes to shuttle bricks back to the house. This weekend, after two months, it was finally finished (ok, 99% finished).
We're happy with the way it came out. For the time being, it's nice, simple, clean and should be no maintenance - we'll see. I finished the first half (first photo) with the small retaining wall about a month ago, and so far so good - nothing growing through. I really wanted to do the retaining wall - there's about a 2 foot drop along that wall, and it looks so much nicer now.