The message
from "[H]omer" contains these words:

Would a strimmer be OK?

Only if your arms are seven feet long.

and your legs too.

By amazing coincidence ...

Actually I've just spent the last couple of days strimming and digging.
Hard work, but not as awkward as I thought it would be ... even with a
crap low powered electric strimmer (note to self: buy petrol strimmer).

But seriously....using a p[etrol strimmer on a severe slope can be a0
v.difficult and b)v. dangerous.

That grass was an absolute nightmare to dig up. I've never seen roots like
it; you could tow a car with them. I'm not too worried about completely
eradicating the grass though (there's still some traces of roots in the
soil) since I'll let it re-grow once the "meadow" has established.

All I need now is wildflower species that compete/live well with wild
grass.

Woah..if it's couch grass, which it sounds like, that does not combine
well with wildflower species.

If you go to the weekly abc.for.newcomers.to.urg post, you'll find a
link to the urgring of posters gardens, and in the urgring you'll find
"janet and john's garden", my old (3.6 acre) garden complete with
wildflower meadow. I'm speaking from experience here :-)

The grasses of (successful) wildflower meadoes, are fine-leaved
species. It's essential to eliminate couchgrass first.

Janet