Anyone struggling with replacing invasives in large areas

We've cleared a wooded spot of all invasive thugs -- primarily glossy buckthorn and garlic mustard. And now have a large cleared area that will just become overgrown with weeds if we don't take command. We're putting down 3 inches of compost to built up the soil and now I'm looking for a ground cover to keep the nasties at bay. I need something that will fill in quickly, keep the weeds away and is pretty to look at and... oh yea..doesn't cost an arm and leg. It's a large area -- maybe a 1/5 of an acre adjacent to our house. thoughts?

What are you going to do with that area? Lawn, garden?

Ha Ha, that's the big question. I bought 5 astilbes, 4 phlox, and a couple other bushes, shade plants and planted them and it didn't make a dent! I'm thinking of moving all of my perennial volunteer geraniums, ferns, lilly of the valley, and other potentially invasives in large swaths to fill in the area. what do you think of that plan?

You might want to think twice before planting ground covers. So many of them can become invasive and hard to control. That's why they're called ground cover. :) Do a little research before planting them. Rather than using a ground cover to suppress weeds (it's frustrating to weed ground cover), you might want to try some leaf mulch. Do you have a leaf pile that you can run over with your lawnmower? If you have leaves, you can put a thick layer - at least 6" - over your area. Wet the leaves down a bit to keep them from blowing around too much (unless you get a rainstorm to do that for you). That will help keep weed seeds at bay - not 100% but it will be easier to pull them. Any yard waste can be layered in this area and it will all help improve your soil. You can also sprinkle coffee grounds over the leaves. Bringing in purchased bagged wood mulches can bring in some diseases so I'd avoid that if you can.