I inherited a Nerium oleander (Oleander) when I bought my house three years ago.  At first, I did not know what it was much less pay attention to it.  It never needed any water, and it produced these lovely pink flowers every year. To me, it was just a bush on the crowded south side of my house.  Then I found out it was an Oleander and toxic to pets.  According to WebMD.com. :” Oleander is a plant. Its use as a poison is well-known. Some of the deaths from oleander are accidental but others are due to suicide. In parts of Asia, it is commonly used as a suicide agent”. In Volume 5 Issue 2 of “Keeping Landscape Working”, an  ANR publication, the most commonly diagnosed caused of livestock poisoning in California was the ingestion of Oleander. About a year ago, Vallejo Recology sent out a flyer warning residents not to place Oleander leaves in their green recycling bins citing its toxicity. Recology workers could be poisoned if they inhaled or touched the dust when the plant was ground and shredded. The flyer went on warning that: “Fines would be given to anyone who violated this policy.  All Oleander materials have to go in the gray household garbage bins.”

I have a cat, fortunately, he is pretty smart and reads up on toxic plants.  He never touched the plant, but what of his illiterate friends? I decided I did not want this plant; I did not need this plant and it frightened me that neighborhood pets could accidentally ingest it and die.  

Have you ever tried to get rid of an Oleander?  They are tough plants and are chosen for their tough root systems to be used as hedge barriers.  They also are drought-resistant, and they wrap their roots around everything.

Last year I decided to remove it. My first attempt at removing this plant was to cut all the visible growth above the surface and of course put the leaves and branches in the regular household garbage bin.  That did not solve the problem. More vigorous shoots sprang up this year. Back to square one. I decided to cut all the branches down and dig into the ground and cut the roots below the ground. I dug underneath the roots hoping to dislodge the stump.  No that did not work.  I will do some more digging on how to be rid of oleander, and probably end up cutting and removing it with (someone else's) brute force.

Be careful what you plant, Oleander NEVERMORE!