Dirty, you didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway-there is a tool called a mattocks which works wonders in such tasks. Maybe you already know, but in case you or others don't it's a hand tool with a handle like an ax and a sort of as head on one side, but the real deal is the other side-the mattocks side, for lack of a better term. Kind of like a hoe on steroids-these things really chop the heck out of stuff like stubborn roots, etc. A variant of this tool has what amounts to a pickax on one side of the head, and the mattocks on the other. That's the type I've got and for certain tasks, I wouldn't want to be without it.

I know what a mattock is, but like I said, I can't afford to buy one. Anyway, I don't see myself needing anything like that again.

I managed to get that sucker out, and if it comes back from the roots, I'm gonna nuke the whole area with stump killer!

Uh, okay, but "nuke the whole area" sounds like yet another person not bothering to read the pesticide label. Typically, this material-so-called "stump killer"- is simply painted or daubed on cut ends, not broadcast all over "the whole area". I'm guessing you know that, but the way it reads takes things in quite another direction.

Don't worry, dg. I had one like that in the last place I rented. The owners had encouraged it for years because it was no-maintenance. I had to whack it back a few times and pull up the roots I could easily move, but eventually it got tired of fighting and gave up without my having to dig out the tap root.

EDIT Then, as a punishment, all the butterflies that used to cluster all over it refused to have anything to do with my new butterfly garden plants.

Maybe i shouldn't ask but I will anyway: why did you want to get rid of this plant? They make such pretty flowers. What am I missing?

No, wisconsitom, I know how to use stump killer. I was being dramatic. I actually used to have a restricted chemicals license, when I was working in horticulture. I know how to use every freaking chemical there is, good or bad, even ones that aren't on the market (in this country) anymore.

Yes, I want it gone for all the reasons writersblock stated, and because I want to put something else in that space that has a taller trunk, so I can plant underneath it. I have a nice 3-gallon Caesalpinia mexicana (yellow dwarf poinciana) that I want to put there. The lantana just keep overgrowing anything I put around it, and seedlings came up everywhere. It was pretty, no doubt, but it's not what I want there. I thought about putting it somewhere else, but I had to mangle the roots so much, I doubt it would have survived, and besides, there are still going to be many seedlings coming up, I'm sure, so if I want another one, I just have to pot one up.

Unfortunately, I lost the red coleus in the process, but I have some growing in little pots that need to go out anyway, and the old ones were struggling to come back from the bottom. Sometimes it's best to start fresh.

So that's that. It's in the dumpster and I'm moving forward with something prettier that also attracts bees and butterflies.

D, I feel your pain. When we first moved to Arizona we had the garden landscaped by the nursery, since we were new to the area and had no idea about the plants there, what a mistake! most of the plants were the worst for many reasons and in that list were the lantanas. The crew that came to plant them told us that they sold us too many plants for the space. And that was true, not even a year in the place and the lantanas were taking over, I made sure that I dug them one by one, all of them purple, colored, white, and all the growing habits, when I was pulling one of them I fell on my back, for my good luck I was not hurt. This experience taught me to never plant lantanas ever again, besides I don't like the strong smell. Maybe in the container, like I saw in the Monticello gardens because they are hardy and can take the abuse.

Silvia

Silvia, I have the purple, which is the only one I really like. I got a few sprigs from a neighbor who moved last year, and only one survived in the ground. I started four little cuttings, so I'll put those out. I know from experience that sooner than later, I'll be cursing it, but right now, I need ground covers, and the purple ones don't seem to get as entrenched as the others. I can't grow the yellow ones for some reason. They hate me! They just die, usually in pieces, and look like crap the rest of the time. I don't understand it. Everyone else seems to think they are the easiest ones.

I remember when I worked at Duke Garden Center in Venice that we sold one called "Dallas Red," that was supposedly sterile. Yeah, right. In the house I just moved out of, the neighborhood is full of those growing wild and getting up to 10 feet tall. They grow UP instead of OUT. Pretty flowers, but nuh-uh, no way.

Like I said: Lantana, sand spurs and stinging nettles!

apapjim, you should cook those stinging nettles. One of the very best wild herbs. Wonderful for you and tasty, too!. The sting goes away from the heat of cooking. Pick before flowering and pick and wash with tongs.

I agree with the purple ones. They aren't invasive and the pollinators really like them. I tend to have a lot of red-colored flowers that attract hummingbirds, so the purple color helps in my garden.

In my opinion, Lantanas are over used in the lower deserts and sub tropical areas, but because they give such intense summer color and tolerate the heat, people are attracted to them. They have a long blooming period and come in a variety of colors.

Compared to a mature Lantana, I think one of the hardest shrubs to remove is a Photinia fraseri. The roots are tremendously rigid and a mattock is just not enough unless the user is very strong and has a lot of power behind each swing. I like using a Sawz-all with a "pruning blade" which is incredibly sharp and much easier than a hand saw.