Pink, You've posted this to the "Exchanges" portion of the forum which is for trading plants and has very little activity. It is unlikely you will get many readers or responses here. You should post your question again in the main "Discussions" forum. See link below. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Gardening forum - Discussions

btcs41 - I have a lot of woody invasive shrubs and small trees to remove. It would be prohibitively expensive to have somebody come with equipment and take them out, and also to have people come with hand tools and dig them out. Being 50-something, I ain't doin' the work, plus it's way too hot at the time of year when I've got enough light, outside of working hours. After some research on the web, discovered that privet and small tallow trees can be killed by painting 12-18 inches of the trunk with a mixture of diesel and triclopyr (brushkiller), so that you've got 25% triclopyr. To do this, I had to buy a gallon of 60% tri. at the feed store, and it wasn't cheap - around $90. Maybe there are smaller sizes available. Works like a charm. I believe this method can be used on any woody plant with smooth bark. It's a lot easier to remove dead shrubs and saplings than live ones.

Hey guys, just an update: I decided to leave the left side, manually pull out weeds and mow it (I talk about this later in this message). On the right side I did "mulching". My plan is not to grow anything by cutting out wholes, only to prep the soil for next year. Hopefully everything underneath dies by that time (sooner the better). ON edges I cannot reach (i.e: by the hedges) I will *generously* coat it with vinegar. I did a test a day before and the weeds that I tested on all died which is good news. Is that a good plan? Below I have talked about how I mulched please give me advice on that. I got some cardboard from local stores, laid it down. I did not bother removing any plastic. I imagine that will not degrade and I can just take it out manually whence the cardboard itself is gone.. I put some leaves from my un-done compost hill and put some dirt on top in hopes of having the leaves stick to dirt when wet as I am going to be away for a week or two. After a while, I ran out of materials to mulch so I cut some grass from the left side (one without any weeds in it) and put it on. After that ran out, I just got some compost from my compost pile - turned basically into soil at this point - into the cardboard. Is this okay? I am afraid it won't work. For the previously mentioned area with leaves and some dirt on it, I bought some cattle manure and put that on (15 * 6 kg for $20). This basically hid all the leaves which is what I want as I do not want them to fly away and bother my neighbors. Is what I described so far okay? Here is new album and photos of progress. Additional questions: How often do I need to water (if so) Do i need to move this stuff if I want this potentially to turn into compost What would the dirt/weeds/stuff below the cardboard look like. Will the cardboard totally degrade or will I have to remove it and can I leave the stuff above the cardboard (hopefully thats compost by next year) onthe land below? Will I have to remove all the stuff underneath or can I just put new soil + compost + seeds of what ever on top? IMAGES OF PROGRESS: http://imgur.com/a/APGJC

I too bought the old untended house on an acre full of thick weeds, in SoCal. All of the advice you are getting is right, you'll probably want a mix of tactics. Our weed load includes some Oxalis which seems hard to eradicate, and numerous mustards and other weeds, but mostly Stinging Nettle, which seems to spread both under and above ground. Right now we have a Nettle bonanza with all the rain, many areas came back much more so than past few years. I've put cardboard down for paths through it until it grows enough to be easier to remove, and will mulch over the cardboard when I have a chance. We have tried many things and ended up solarizing some areas with black plastic, which worked pretty well to help diminish the amazing density we inherited. That was in my raised bed garden where I now use old carpet scraps to manage paths and work areas without weeds/nettle (carpet lets the water through but is tidier and less work than mulch in those areas) but 6+ years post-solarization the nettle comes back thick and lush so I don't think the solarization did lasting damage. For areas where we had large amounts of mustard weeds, a few years of pulling them out before they could set seed has diminished it considerably. Now the annual mostly-nettle weed work is a mix of tactics - putting cardboard or wood down during spring growing season, pulling plants ideally when they are 15" high and the ground is still soft so they pull right out, some areas get hit with a scuffle (hula) hoe, and then least favorite, weed whacking some of it when the scuffle hoe exhausts us. It helps to sharpen the scuffle hoe once in a while. Nettle infestation is an especially lovely weed experience, no walking around parts of the yard wearing shorts or flip flops or clogs without socks, and to pull it have to use the long rose gloves over canvas shirt sleeves. And I still get burned. And the dog always has an itchy nose. We do sometimes have nettle greens with dinner, but it's a hassle and in my opinion not very flavorful. Welcome to home ownership, Plumber Dave.