We have a steepish hillside, about 900 sf, with a few trees planted (european hornbean, norwegian spruce, dogwood, arborvitae for a screen). We've got about 100 sf of low ground cover at the top and the rest is bare and we like it. (photo attached) We've used pine straw for a few years but struggle to keep up with weeds and aren't getting any younger. Looked into landscape fabric and heard the down side. Should we just use much thicker pine straw? Dont want to use heavy duty weed killer. Any advice? Thanks in advance! David H.