go to the compost forum on GW and search out "lasagne layering" this will change your life ;) If I had not done it and seen the results myself I'd say..ya right. but I turned an area that was hard clay, covered with weeds and even once upon a time with kudzu, into fertile and easily workable soil. I collected bag after bag of grass cuttings (filled my CRV up every week with a dozen or more bags) I collected cardboard boxes from the bins outside the dollar store (lots of them all at once, FREE) I also collected leaves when they were around and all my kitchen scraps. I went to starbucks and got big bags of used coffee grounds, (they keep them and put them in a container inside the store for people to pick up FREE). Heck if you were REALLY ambitious, you could probably find a small restaurant or hotel nearby you, get to know someone who handles the trash? or whatever, and get their leftovers..not sure how their rules would affect that..but it would be worth a try. Also research your area and see if there is any kind of municipal composting area. Here the fairgrounds gives away wonderful composted material for FREE. Local farms or horse boarding places are great sources for composted manure, of course you need to make sure it's been sitting around a long time so that it doesn't burn stuff. Most people will give you as much as you want. FREE also check on a craigslist near you, I've seen lots of posts for free compost there. Or post an ad for OM?

i don't understand what you mean by marginal . the area is an easement between my house and a neighbor's house . my septic lines are just barely 5 years old and they are already full of water . i was told by a plumber that because the ground won't absorb water fast enough , it is safe to say that water will continue to surface around my lines and ofcourse that is making a muddy mess between the two properties . hope i gave enough details , if you need more just ask :o) rachel

Agree with Vernonia, common name is ironweed.

We live in WI, same zone and are about 5 .years in of converting several large over grown beds into native plantings. We dug a lot out and then went with the smothering route for a lot of it because we had somewhat contained yard areas of ditch lily that were just so badly overgrown. My personal opinion is to agree with Christopher C NC. I think he might of said it best, but if it's helpful I can add what I can. Smothering and chemicals do not seem to be practical with what you want to do here. It's a big commitment to kill off everything and start over, without ending up with just as many or more of what you wanted to get rid of to start with. There are plenty of natives that will love to grow in that soil as is. Things like common/wood violets, goldenrods, big leaf aster, golden grounsel, black eye susans, milkweeds, butterfly weed, etc should have a chance to hold their own, and the bees and birds will benefit a great deal. There are also native shrubs that could work and be beneficial. Someone mentioned Joe Pye weeds and culver's root which might work nice for you also (our rabbits love the joe pye weed when its first sprouting so we don't have as many. They also ate all our cone flower) Just go in and carefully pull out the things like garlic mustard and buckthorn, that offer zero value to wild life and that smoother beneficial plants. You can poke some holes and plant specific plant seeds. Plant just a couple kinds so you know what you're looking for as it grows, or just plant a bunch and forget it other then the worst of the bad weeds. Or if you start the seeds indoors and grow them as plugs you can use this drill attachment to make plug holes to pop them in. (I watched a master gardener use this to beef up her plantings around a pond, She said it helped by not disturbing the rest of the soil, which can encourage weed seeds to grow.) https://powerplanter.com/? keyword=power%20planter&matchtype=e&sncid=14&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand&adgroup=brand&gclid=CjwKCAjwvtX0BRAFEiwAGWJyZPjlsjDZNxN_E-CX_Ium7Ki2s5PoqBvs2ZW6QwHL0YKaNRU1RGPYZBoCpK8QAvD_BwE I've bought seeds and flats of plugs already grown from Agrecol native nursery in Wisconsin. http://www.agrecol.com/ and Prairie nursery https://www.prairienursery.com/store/groundcover-plants/page/1?_url=groundcover-plants/&_page=2 You can also check out the local chapter of https://wildones.org/ for tips and resources. They have a seed exchange met up, I think in the fall. (new members encouraged) This might also be a useful book if you are still learning invasive species called Invasive Plants of the Upper Midwest: https://www.abebooks.com/Invasive-Plants-Upper-Midwest-Illustrated-Guide/30434932321/bd?cm_mmc=ggl--US_Shopp_Trade--used-_-naa&gclid=CjwKCAjwvtX0BRAFEiwAGWJyZLZ0HNTSSa2ynRehaB0ezU1hRmI0oQoPGtXfDzjMegRobsoPz2AtkBoCHUMQAvD_BwE A link for some other suggestions of hardy natives written by Johnson's nursery expert: https://www.kb.jniplants.com/naughty-natives-part-3/ If you go on the midwest garden lovers group, or anywhere else, be careful of what you accept as free. Be careful not to introduce things like snow on the mountain, orange ditch lilies, etc or invasive bugs/worms. Lastly if by chance you are in our area in SE WI and feel like you need a weed wacker, we might have an extra you can borrow. I also agree, you are giving back the land a great gift.