Clearing weedy slope...

Not sure where to post this, so here goes. We have a down-slope that needs clearing. Most of the weeds are dead (sorry, we have to use RoundUp around here). Several considerations:

We need erosion control.
It's expensive and difficult to dispose of the weeds.
It's a south facing and difficult slope to grow anything on, so we're going at this deliberately, no matter how long it takes.

Our idea was to remove the weeds and cover with black plastic, then start planting in the fall. We will be planting CA natives, so no amendments will be added to the soil. With the heat the slope gets, it should kill any weed seed, at least in the top layer, right?

So, now I'm wondering if leaving the weeds that are there is a viable option. That way we don't tear up the soil removing them and we don't have the disposal problem.

Question: When we go to plant, what will be left? Do the weeds break down under the plastic, or are we going to be faced with a mess to clean up anyway? Never having done this solarizing method before, I'm wondering.

Thanks for any input.

Kathelen

I think you're going to be left with dried up weeds that still need to be dealt with, unless there's moisture under there too they won't be able to rot so I don't think they're going to go anywhere. I did this once with an area of old lawn, except I used newspaper and landscaping fabric both of which do let air & water through, and when I pulled it up a year later to plant there, the dead grass was still sitting there over much of the area (and this was after a winter of rain too which I would have thought would do a better job making the grass decompose). But if you don't mind planting among the dead dry weeds and figuring over time the weeds will decompose and your plants will outgrow them then you could probably get away without removing them, it just won't look like a perfectly manicured garden at first.

Hmmm...I was afraid of that, that's why I wondered if anyone had done this. We're far from having a manicured garden, but I think I'll probably be happier with them gone. At least they are dead and will be easier to get rid of than the last slope we cleared. We're trying to get things mulched, since we have weed problems all the time, but with more than an acre, most sloped, it's a constant battle.

Thanks for your input.

Kathleen