The
landscapers
jeliza et al recommended rock! It was pricey, but in one day they took my mess of a lawn to a neat base to work from. I wouldn't have had the time/energy to do that much work in a month. Heck, six months. Wow.
Of course, I'm now officially "house poor" so I'll be focusing on paying down credit cards and doing a few specific projects over the next six months or so, but at this point I'm basically done with the majority of expenses for my planned renovations. All-in-all, it is turning out quite nicely.