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Roming bamboo

neilwadesonneilwadeson Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Help please I have a clump of roaming bamboo coming from a neighbours garden and its still spreading I have cut it right back tried heavy root killer but it's still sprouting is the a easy way of getting rid of this plant before it ruins my entire lawn please help ??

Posts

  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933

    This type of bamboo  is a nightmare to control. Would it be possible to dig a trench/ditch close to the base of where it is coming onto your property, it would need to be about 2ft deep or more and then drop paving slabs on edge between the bamboo and your garden. Black polythene is an option but the spear like shoots of the bamboo would soon pierce it. Treating the new shoots with glyphosate regularly will help but not stop it completely.

    Good luck.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hi Neil - unfortunately these 'running' bamboos are very difficult to deal with as you've discovered. The only way [apart from approaching the neighbour about it] is to create a solid barrier to prevent shoots spreading into your garden. It would involve a bit of digging down and then putting in something vertically like paving, big roof tiles or similar. Plastic barriers aren't strong enough as the roots will push through it. Shoots will still try and find a way round it but they don't tend to go down too deep. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • neilwadesonneilwadeson Posts: 1
    Thanks will try that weekend of digging it is then all worth it if it stops it ruining my garden many thanks Neil
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's a shame you have to do it Neil. Bamboo is popular but the running kind can cause havoc for other people - as you're finding. Perhaps the neighbours would remove it  if they could see the issue.
    Hope you can keep it at bay!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    The stuff can grow through concrete. Are you on good terms with your neighbour? It might be worth taking them out for dinner.
  • msmaryspiresmsmaryspires Posts: 1
    My neighbor in MO just planted David Bisset bamboo... four feet from my property line and without a barrier. He swears it won't spread, that mowing will control it, that no barrier is required, and that I'm overreacting by digging the trench I've dug... but this is one of the most aggressive running bamboos in my area from what I've read, and with it being so close to the property line, I've got a very short time to do anything about it before it invades. 

    What websites DON'T say is how far the rhizomes can spread from the mother plant if all shoots are destroyed the minute they pop up, how far rhizomes will run the first year, whether when it runs uphill the barrier has to be deeper, and whether the plastic bamboo barriers really work or not. 

    Any info or advice would be much appreciated. I can't move, I won't just jump the fence and kill it, and I have talked to him (so did his son) but he is convinced it won't ever be a problem. He promised he would google it again and admitted he hadn't looked at it's aggression, but I'm not sure he will believe what he reads if he does. 
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