Question
My house is on a hill.  Behind my home is a 45 degree angle slope.  It is quite large, and there grows a massive weed jungle and probably haven for numerous pests.  I would be happy if I could just keep the weeds mowed down to a few inches.  What would be the best tool for this?  I have a useful picture that shows my landscape dilemma, where can I send it to?  My husband was thinking of buying a push trimmer, regular lawn mowers seem too dangerous for the  incline.  Any ideas?

Because of the size of the area, planting groundcover would be very expensive, also I am concerned with spraying weedkiller as this area is very close to septic and well area?  Would that be harmful?  

Answer
I took some time to respond to this, because I wanted to contemplate a little before suggesting anything rash.  This is a fairly common problem.  I had a house once with a tough slope to mow (if I wasn't a careful mower, I'd stumble over into the blackberry thorns).

I think your husband's idea of a push trimmer is a good one.  I've seen rental yards offer a "brush trimmer" - basically a lawnmower with bigger rear wheels, so you can lift up the rotating blades onto the larger brush.  The push trimmer does the same thing, with a better margin of safety.  

I must confess, I have used my regular push mower on our problem slope, and I was fortunate not to have followed it into the heavy brush, a time or two.

Once the bigger plants are brought down to a manageable size, then the regular push mower might work just fine.  Be sure to work from the top down - because gravity is tough to fight while wrestling a gas-powered mower.  

As far as weed-killers next to septic - not a problem.  Weed killer next to domestic wells - a potential problem.  It抯 stay back at least 50 feet from your wellhead.  

There are SO many choices for herbicides. Be sure to choose one that specifically has no residual soil activity, and therefore is less likely to contaminate your well water.  

Depending on what you are trying to kill, there are selective (just one or two types of plants - like weed/feed or for certain types of weeds) and non-selective (kills all living plant materials - including trees & shrubs).  

I don't specifically recommend their products, but the chart link shows you that targeting individual plants is possible, or you can just chose to kill it ALL -

http://www.janisan.com/WeedChart.html

Some of the "nastier" chemicals may require special training to apply, so check with your local garden supply store.

Of course, the best is to not mow or spray at all...A nice, tight groundcover that is low maintenance.  It depends on where you live, and what the slope configuration is.  

Out here in the west, I like to just cover these challenging slopes with larger rock-mulch (4-12" diameter), with the occasional low-growing evergreen.  Easier to maintain, weeds can be hand-pulled or spot-treated, & rocks don't take much water.  I realize that this is harder in wetter (more weed-prone?) areas. You mentioned that it is a larger area...acres?  Rockmulch can be trucked in for about $50/yard, and it will cover about 80 square feet (10 x 8), so a 20 ft x 20 ft area would take 5 yards, or $250.  How much is that push trimmer?  

If the picture is not too large, email it to me at [email protected].

Regards - Marc