I have a flowering plant growing in a southern-facing narrow strip between house and driveway. It is a sunny exposure, the plant seems to be doing well, it always seems to have blossoms.
I believe it to be lantana. I never paid much attention to what it was or proper care, and I have somewhat indiscriminately sheared the front face a number of times when it grows out over the drive just whenever it looked overgrown. This exposes the inner stems, which are very woody, the green growth is just at the top and the driveway face.
I would like to do a hard prune to bring the top down and get rid of the excess bare stems and woodiness inside the plant. The couple of resources I have read indicate this should be done in spring, not fall or winter, even in my zone. Cut back to roughly a third of the original height, leave 6 inches to a foot from the ground. It rains here pretty much thru March, although this plant is under an eave, so prune towards the end of the rainy season.
I guess after this long story, does this seem like a plan?
Thank you for your time.

Here Lantana dies back at least a bit in the winter. I mow it down with the lawnmower, and it grows back in the spring. Not exactly equivalent to your hard prune but it makes me think that your plan should be fine.

Hi, neighbor! I'm in 10b also (No. SD Co) & see lantana hard pruned like this frequently. I think fall would be fine. I plan on doing it then too because it is still presently going like gangbusters, spilling over the walkway, etc.

I'll be curious to see what others have to say. Good luck.

Beautiful!

You could avoid the completely sheared look by cutting the back half and when you are seeing some new growth, then cut the front. Or by shearing every-other plant now, then the other half when the first-sheared are regrowing.

Or if you have the patience, you could spend more time on it and remove about 25% of it by cutting the longest stems back to the crown. In a few weeks, repeat, then repeat as needed whenever any particular stem gets too long.

It's still warm enough to chop the crap out of it. About 4" tall should do. Give it a mild dose of all-purpose fertilizer and it'll grow back fine. We do it to the lavender one as well as "Gold Mound" (also known as the lantana that ate Pomona).
Since it's surrounded by all that asphalt, concrete and stucco it'll stay warm enough. If you don't chop it, it will mound up to 6-8' and become a woody hedge.

@socalsunsetzone22 you said woody with just the new growth on top. Search online for bonsai lantana, you could have great plants their to play and showcase in bonsai pots.

The woodier it is the better for the bonsai look. Mine are still tiny stems but I am growing a few.

Have you seen this plant during the winter?
10b... not sure you'd face dormancy issues.

In my area, lantana turns brown for the winter, and some people cut it in the Spring.

The theory is that where it gets cold, those hollow stems may take in rain and freeze in the cold, possibly killing plant.

Some people choose to cut them back in the Autumn, seemingly without problems.

Personally, I would be hesitant about cutting a valuable plant hard and getting a bunch of new growth just before winter... in my area, an almost certain way to cause injury and possibly death.

How cold does it ever get in 10b?
That would be the limiting factor in my decision making process.

I moved to 10b a little over a year ago specifically because it never (rarely) freezes. Last winter it only got down to high 30s so not even close.

I'm already seeing some severely pruned lantana in my neighborhood, maybe 12" tall. Depending on how coastal the OP is, the moderate winters there can handle quite a bit of fall pruning.

I have a couple lantana in hanging pots. I prune them viciously when I put them in the garage/greenhouse for the winter. They do fine.

Any plant that can handle freezing to the ground every year can handle any pruning, that's not a problem. The question is if you want to look at a bare/chopped spot for a while, or prune in stages so it doesn't look any different, at a glance.

To Stone in Macon:
Looked this up for the first time. The USDA zones are assigned based on winter low temperatures, each zone has a 10 deg range and is 10 deg warmer than the next lower zone, with some zones divided into a and b which have 5 deg ranges. Anyway, zone 10b is for areas with low temps between 35-40 degrees, not quite freezing, while 8a where you are is for low temps between 10-15 degrees, so definitely freezing over the winter. So pruning in fall here is possibly not be fatal