DIYbanter - View Single Post - Steep hillside covered with poision ivy:(

wrote:
I REALLY dont want to decimate the area since there are bulbs and
plants my mom planted about 11 years ago right before she died.

My first thought was to remove the plants and perennials you want to
keep, and then hitting the rest of the hill with a pre-emergent
herbicide, but two problems crop up: (1) you can't kill anything within
a radius of twice the radius of the maple (unless you want to take a
shot at the maple, too...) and (2) where do you store the plants you
want to save for a year until the pre-emergent is inactive?

The Wife and I had a similar situation with a hill behind our house. We
hired a contractor to come in and clear out the dead azalea, the
Chinese weed tree (that goes by a more crude name because of how it
smells when it pollinates), two wild fruit "trees", but leave the holly
tree and put in terrace walls. It was hugely expensive (not as
expensive as digging out the hill installing a garage and extending the
lawn over the top of the garage) but well worth it in the end: the hill
is incredibly stable, we use the terraces for our vegetable garden, and
it adds value to our home.

If you decide to go that route, do some research into local landscaping
contractors, and pick the one you trust, not just the one who offers
the lowest price because they could be cutting certain structural
corners.