So I'm now down to 9" below soil line. I think I found the main roots, they are about 1-1.5" thick. I am going to dig around them and cut them up. For now all the main roots are exposed to sunlight so I'm pretty sure this plant isn't going anywhere.
I'm super lucky though, I found one root trying to dig its way through concrete. It took a tiny chunk out of my pool decking but since I exposed it the people doing the repair/remodel this week will be able to fix it. I shudder to think what this thing could have done to my foundation over time though, the thing was planted less than a foot away from the house.
I took up about 100 sq feet of shitty 1x1 home depot special paver and dug down 4" for 1' around the entire perimeter of the pool decking in addition to murdering the shrub. It was pretty awful in areas with the heavy Bermuda roots. Thankfully the weedwhacker I picked up has a rotating head and an edger wheel, it was amazingly quick to zip the entire edge for all the roots/weeds/caked on dirt.
I think at this point the half the yard I need to take up will require a skidsteer. There's just no way I can do it in a timely fashion by hand. I could have moved the rock over a few weeks but not with it nailed to the ground like it is. I'm toying with the idea of hiring vs. renting one of the mini skidsteers myself. I'm thinking I will get some quotes, there's no way to save the rock it's half dead grass and roots matted into it so I need to dump it and I don't have a dump trailer.
Also, finalized my design for phase 1 of the back yard this weekend after a visit to the nursery to check out trees and shrubs. I'm pretty excited I'm going to be able to get this done as cheaply as I am by being a GC instead of just throwing 15-20K+ at some landscaping company.
