Area between new drive and garage, lower down than drive

This area is between my new drive, my garage (out of view) next doors garage (stone building) and a large tree. There is no soil just rubble next to the drive. Im wondering what to do.
Excuse the messy stuff we have been building the house.
Its shady area east facing and the tree is a fair size. Filling with topsoil seems obvious, but I don’t always like the obvious solution. It could be costly and I’d be creating not a great bit of garden, I have much nicer aspects.
Any thoughts ?
Next to the drive there is a fair drop, it’s lower than it looks in the pics.

 

@a1154, I'd just gravel the whole area to just below the level of the drive, leaving a large circle around the tree. If there's any kind of view from the tree, you could perhaps think about a circular seat to make more of a feature of the area.
However you would have to think about ongoing maintenance of leaf clearing every autumn, not so easy on gravel perhaps. Self binding gravel would be easier (gravel mixed with a sandy
element) means the gravels inclined to stick together, doesn't move so much and creates a flatter surface eventually.
Good luck

 

I’d also create a large circular border around the tree and then lay some topsoil and shade tolerant turf in that area, making it easier to clear up the leaves and detritus from the tree with a lawnmower. Assuming the tree is deciduous, the grass should get sufficient light over the winter dormancy period to survive. Gravel does tend to move around unless it is bound as suggested by @lizzie27 and loose gravel still attracts weeds.

 

Hmm not really fancying gravel or turf. The tree is a norway maple.

 

Oh dear, nothing much will grow underneath a Norway Maple, including grass.
(I know from experience, there is a very large one just outside our boundary!) It's roots stretch right across our garden and the leaves fill 2 leaf bins every year.
If top soil is going to be expensive and you're not keen on gravel or turf then paving is the only other surface I can think of and that's going to be even more expensive.

 

What about creeping thymes? They're far more resistant to drought than grass and species like pseudolanuginosus (woolly thyme) and thymus serpyllum coccineus make big, weed-suppressing mats that flower, attract bees and don't require any maintenance. IME they also stand shade quite well. Another mat-forming plant is Phyla nodosum but that really is a last resort. It doesn't know when to stop

 

It depends where you are as to whether anything will thrive in the area - it's not too difficult here where I am to grow stuff under maples.
However, it largely depends on where the area is in relation to your property. If it's a part you're going to be seeing frequently- coming in and out every day, or you see it all the time from house windows, then you might want to consider that.
Budget is always a factor, as well as time for maintenance.

 

Hi FG, it’s front garden, but I have about the same again between the maple and the road, just visible in pic 2. I don’t see it from the house at all, but will see it coming in and out as it’s next to the drive.
It was grass before the building works, so it could be grass again, but I was hoping for something better. If I do fill it with top soil, I’ll look into shrubs that would work there.
I wondering about putting a liner in the deepest part, creating a shady pond for newts. Fallout from the maple would be considerable though.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by 'something better'. If you mean plants/shrubs, then you'll have to get the whole area dug over to loosen up the compacted soil, then add more soil/organic matter to the area, before putting in borders, or just having planted areas.
You'll then need access to those for maintenance, so you'd have to create some paths. What you'd make those with will again depend on budget, and whether you can do them yourself. The amount of access for maintenance is a factor too.
Some plants would need very little, so bark could be ideal, and could just be used as a general mulch/cover in between the plants rather than structured paths.

 

I'd probably grass the larger part of it leaving a circular area under the tree.
Maybe plant that up with hardy cyclamen, blue bells and spring bulbs.

I can't think of much that is likely to grow under the tree during the summer months, so probably a layer of bark just so it still looks tidy in summer.