I am having the same problem....weeds. My daughter and I have pulled,laid paper and cardboard and then mulch and I am just sick,weeds everywhere. I hate to spray I have roses and flowers in all these areas. I guy several weeks ago said to put down 6 inches of mulch. Man! thats alot of mulch which I cant afford. I already put down about $400. Getting too old with problems to pull weeds and now its HOT. Good Luck.

Nope.
Vapam can be used to the area. Follow the instructions but, basically you will apply Vapam to the soil, cover the area with plastic for at least 48 hours. You can replant anything, including vegetables, 21 days later.
Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: VAPAM

If the area is level enough to run a mower over it, or can be leveled without much difficulty, I would keep it mowed until I decided what to do with it. A freshly mowed patch of weeds can look pretty nice, and it's green. Since the weeds were tall, the weed "turf" might be sparse, but it'll fill in. If mowing is feasible, then there's no point in killing the weeds until you know what you're going to replace them with, since they'll come back before long.

Vapam is a Restricted Use Material which means it shuold not be available to anyone except licensed pesticide applicators, and Vapam releases toxic gasses when mixed with water, and Vapam is a fungicide, not an herbicide so its use here is inappropriate at best.
Stormy needs to start with a good, reliable soil test so contacting the local office of the University of Massachussetts USDA Cooperative Extension Service should be a first step follwed by making any soil nutrient corrections they suggest. Also digging in and taking a good, in depth look at the present soil condition with these simple soil tests,
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
can help determine what else needs to be done to make that soil into a good, healthy soil that will grow strong, healthy plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: UMASS CES

Stormy I have those same weeds here. Whatever you do don't rototill the area. My husband goes nuts with the rototiller and then just leaves the area up to me to do something with. I've begged him just to help me mulch!!! But whatever I say he has to do the oppisite. Once he disturbed those extensive roots systems those massive weeds have taken over. I sprayed & raked and cleaned a shade area, planning on mulching, then I got sent out of town for work when I came back the whole area was covered with the monster weed approx 10" tall. Very pretty actually then they become 3 feet tall monsters. Anyways what the heck are they?? Have they laid dormant for years since the roots like you said are 3' diam and proabably 6' long!!!!???? I guess I will have to take it to a professional like the previous poster mentioned in the post regarding soil condition. I'm from CA and all I ever had to worry about was crabgrass and an occasional dandilion. This arce is like a weed factory!!! I've got weeds outta here I know would take a blue ribbon at the state fair if you could enter WEEDS!!!!!!!!!!