This is random but wouldn't getting rid of all the brush lead to the erosion & mudslides?

The goats don't take out the roots if properly rotated through the grazed areas.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried living with the slope, and taking pictures of the wildflowers?
That entire hillside looks like a wildlife magnet...
About all that I would do...
Is invest in a quality string trimmer.... And give that slope a trimming from time to time.
And....
Looks too green in the pics to burn.... And.... Keeping stuff low is traditionally the prevention for fires... I can't imagine doing any more than what you've already got!

Ok... Just carefully read through the original post...
My answer stays the same...
Hit with string trimmer once a year... Doesn't get easier than that...

I have to agree with Stone. I've seen communities in AZ with thousands of dollars of rock to replace anything green. Residents in the community (mostly retirees) keep gallons of Roundup on hand to tackle unwanted weeds that seed among the rocks.

Sorry for the quality. The sun was in the wrong spot!!!!










This is what they did across the street.

Thanks everybody for the replies! I messaged about goats but they didn't reply. My workman would trim or shear the hillside for about $200. I'm looking at doing this bit by bit. We started on clearing the side yards when some landscaping company warned about unlicensed contractors. By the NV Contractors' Board attorney, a workman is only a workman for jobs paying less than $1,000. That scared me, so I'm looking for other labor to clear out the weeds and grasses that we began work on clearing. I upped my budget to $10,000. I want to be fully legal. So it costs me five time more, but I guess for union labor or what. I put out ads and sent messages. I'm probably going to get a home equity loan. I even asked my realtor to see about trying to sell the property, and see if there's a cheaper home that I can move into with no yard work like mine presently.

I'm stressed out and having a mental condition at the same time as all of this. Hard to think, but some ideas here. The landscaping companies are pretty busy and some aren't taking new accounts. On pavers company I think said that they'd do it all from scratch for $6 a sq. ft. but I have to talk to them again. I have to call or wait to talk to a lot of companies and people tomorrow. It can be cheaper or more. I found a better rate for a home equity loan at US Bank, and I will finish with my mortgage payments in 2020. I can pay off the home equity or landscape company loan by then, with the extra money that I'll have, I hope.

I have to see a bunch of doctors, and hopefully they'll help. This might get done, depending if I can find reliable labor at $20/hour. That the pavers company would do all of it from scratch, that sounded great. I'll likely be dead in a few years, so it goes. Anybody about Reno, NV, wants to direct a pro to me, feel welcome to send them.

I have a steep hillside, so wish to be careful with any help. Kids and Boy Scouts and all tend to get hurt. Easy to trip on old mesh wire placed earlier, or on a bush or clump. Could break a leg. Same with allowing gardening. Liability hazard. I have a scare over liability right now. My workman said he had insurance but never showed me anything. There's laws. The way it looks, I just have to incur more debt. More than I wanted in buying the home. Go to the bank, get a loan, and pay the landscapers what they want. Try to keep down the fire hazard for the hillside, by trimming and shearing every so often. The neighbors are already doing that. My hillside is steeper, so there's extra hazard, and probably costs. As I'm 64, who knows how much longer that I'll be around? They said if I died before paying off the house, the bank and attorneys take care of it all. So it looks to go, with landscaping. If I somehow live to 70, it'll get paid off. Otherwise, I'll be dead. Bon vivant!

Oh yes, I'm an enviro, so I figured from scratch that I wouldn't use chemicals. I had more money on hand when I bought the home. Round Up is a carcinogenic, and there are children next door. Application costs money, and then it has to be re-applied every couple months. It didn't look as big a hillside when I moved in and the weeds and grasses here grow faster than I thought. I paid $19 for wildflower seed from Amazon and threw it to the wind to see if it germinated. It looks like some did, but now the purple flowers are gone, I don't know if they came from the seed packet. And if you spray, how does that not kill the wildflowers? I hoped to have energy and time for a pretty garden, but that didn't work. Just too many weeds to have to pull. This isn't a big climate for flower tending. Too dry. Now, I don't have the energy anymore.

I have a good fence so goats were a thought. They can be leashed, or movement restricted. But they poop, and that sounds as bad as weeds.

Anybody about Reno knows some responsible kids to earn money by digging out weeds and grasses, I've been paying $20/hour. I have tools, but they'd have to be fraud free. No claims as to injury, falsely engaged in. Disclaimer would be nice.

Well, I don't know about Reno, but if that were in Ca. you would be inviting mud slides by stripping that slope. Those grass and weed roots do hold the soil.

If goats are allowed, try to rent some. Just watch that they are removed before they overgraze to hill. SOooo simple compared to your other options!

I'm figuring to get some landscaping done. $$$ to $$$$$, but they all want big money, mostly. All said that I need to have retaining walls, so that takes care of what erosion. And a drainage system to take care of water. It shouldn't rain very much between now and November, but I need a worker or workers to do the job.

I wonder if that slope could be planted to some sort of small trees or shrubs, which wouldn't need to be constantly cut back but would stabilize the soil?

Baccharis pilularis should do well in your area for erosion control and is drought tolerant

Maybe you could post an ad at the college, A lot of those kids nee supplemental income.

ctcarol said:Maybe you could post an ad at the college, A lot of those kids nee supplemental income.

True, but there are concerns about liability and such...

I'm researching shotcrete or gunnite. Better to have no plants at all than a recurring fire hazard. I found what says 8 cents a sq.ft. but nothing much local. The highway dept. uses this, but they have a big budget.

No college kid goes to school to dig weeds. There is a day labor office but it's dubious help, looking like illegals or who I can't tell. I'm told that's the way they go around here, but now I've got a contractor who quotes me a fair rate at removal. The problem is what to do afterwards. My worker tells me the beautiful things he'll do, but I can't hardly see how he'd do it for so cheap. About half or less of what the other landscapers quote. He worked fire crew, so is used to digging fire breaks, and that's why I hired him. I'm paranoid, and the old hiking club used to con and scam me all of the time. Small money for rides and stuff, but that's how I've been taken by people. Attorneys and judges included.

Weedwhacker said:

True, but there are concerns about liability and such...

Done proper, "homeowner policies" cover such needs. This beggar, no.

Well, it just looks like $$$$$ is what I need to have to spend. It's a big project. The insurance man says that my situation isn't too bad, and I am going to have the growth cut down, and ask about chemical application if the lawn care man says why not. He didn't think it was that harmful, and though it says about it that it is "probably carcinogenic," I'll leave it to the pros, and stay away when they treat the plants. I'm poor, and to remove manually I am quoted about $1,300. I'm having to count on a workman who claims he can really do a great job in landscaping that I can afford. We'll see.

I hope it all works out well for you, Peaker! Keeping my fingers crossed .

I think most homeowners would agree -- it's always something!