I rent in an urban area and was given a backyard full of 6 foot tall weeds. Over the winter I managed to somewhat reduce their numbers and have been fighting them down since but also I didn't really have any money for gardening so I just went with direct inground with a bag of miracle grow for fertilizer and some cheap mulch for bedding.
Pretty much a scraps garden. I have green onions and regular onions, garlic cloves that sprouted, bell pepper and jalapenos, a potato plant, 2 basil and 3 Thai basil, a daikon scrap I'm letting flower I hopes of seeds I can plant next year, and all my beans and peas on the fence over there.
I also planted a blueberry bush that I realized I really should have kept in a pot cause I realized how long that thing is gonna grow for.
I also threw potatoes under the bush in the far back that is doing pretty good and a strawberry I won't ever be able to eat the fruit from because the critters get up earlier in the morning than me.
The neighbor I share a front stairwell with I think would kill me if I got a massive delivery of wood chip. I have heard the horror stories.
But it's insane the yard is less dirt and more a nest of weed roots. I actually managed to get the tiller attachment for a free ryobi weed whacker I got and that has made the soil at least there way more usable. But I have to weed for sure every week. The mulch honestly won't stop them.
Haha, oh dear. Good luck then!