cut to the ground.. and apply a stump killer.. or un-diluted round up or its generic ... and be done with it ...

a plumber is going to cost you a lot more than RU ...

once had a friend pull the bumper off his rusting old jalopy .. lol .. but i bet your GA boys do trucks a bit different ... lol...

there is simply no reason to pull up all the roots.. if you kill them.. in place ..

ken

I you are hoping to replant that area, remove them roots and all.

I love my SawsAll (reciprocating saw) for this purpose. I just cut into the soil all around the plant -- usually angling in toward the plant -- and eventually you get all or most of the roots and the plant can be tipped over. Not sure if you can wield one of those.

Thank you, guys. I got a new chain for my saw today and managed to get both of them taken down to less than 2'. Wisconsitom, I am fairly knowledgeable about pruning practices, but these defied all my best efforts. May be able to have someone yank one of them out. Another option is to dig out around them and try to hold onto the SawsAll. Sounds like an excellent solution, Dave. Not sure either if I can hold on to one, all 5'3" and 100# and old old old. If not, I'll get someone to help.

Will be back sometime soon to ask about replacement ideas, along with measurements of the area.

Truly appreciate y'all, as I have for years and year.

Rosie

Eleven days later, my loropetalums are gone. I kept exposing and cutting roots and neighbor pulled up both stumps yesterday. One hole is about 5'x3', the one near sewer line much smaller.

Dave in NVA, I'm working hard now trying to get a large % of the roots removed. They are intertwined with many smaller roots and a web of surface roots. One I got last night was over 10' long. Using a huge pry bar to lift then sever with various loppers or a hand saw. Will be back soon with measurements of the entire area seeking your advice of planting options. It can be a really attractive front area, maybe with a couple of trees planted 12' or so from the foundation.

Appreciate everyone's help. Rosie

Would Loropetalum grow back from roots? I would have thought that if its crown was missing, it would be history.

tete_a_tete, these plants root along the root - that sounds screwy, but don't know how else to say it. New growth pops up and becomes another shrub. The reason I'm digging them out though is to be able to plant in this area and not have a network of wiry roots to deal with, and have less stress for what I do plant in there.

They have dwarf loropetalums that stay small called "purple pixie" if you are interested... LOL

The regular ones get WAY to big to be planted against a foundation.

I love the look of 12' tall loropetalums! But yes, they can be a bear in the wrong place.

I moved two about 9 years ago from the front bed. Tree formed it, put it in a deep bed on the side of my garden. It's gignormous, at least 12' high, probably nearly that wide, but the base is constantly growing new shoots, hundreds of them.

Rosie