I am a new homeowner in DE and am having great difficulties cleaning up the hillside on the back yard.

The hillside is about a 50 degree angle and is about 5 feet tall. Most of it is covered with Ivy, as there is a large bush running the length of it on the top.

Towards the back, the previous owner had a large tree that was chopped down and burried under the ivy. It took me almost two years to get all of the rotted logs out, and I still find pits and pieces. Because of this, the soil back there is very soft and you can even bounce on it when you step on it.

Also, now that I have removed the logs, there was a bare spot with no vegitation. I placed a tarp over it last year for about 4 weeks to kill anything in there, but now weeds are coming up in there, including poison ivy.

I'd like to find a way for the ivy to take over and keep everything out, but I need to keep everything else out of there until the ivy takes over.

Any sugestions?

JN