The regular roots might not go so deep, but these ones have gone under next door's wall and under the street wall and their foundations, so I would guess they've gone down a lot deeper than six inches.
I have been having visions of recruiting the tough guys in the neighbourshood who are having a mid life crisis in lycra (Mamils) to grab tools and use their pent up angst against the bamboo. We might have it all out in an hour, especially if there are cameras present.
Oooh, I could do with some of those! Round here we're well past the mid life crisis, I'm afraid. The roots under the wall and foundations are going to be a problem. We didn't have to deal with that so I can't add anything helpful, unfortunately.
Maybe, having got the main lot out (and therefore reduced the source of any new runners), there could be a focused use of weedkiller on the bits that have escaped to the neighbours / street - perhaps injected straight into the hollow stems as is sometimes done with knotweed?
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
I would be really cautious about using a professional systemic weedkiller in a confined urban space on a row of terraced housing, even on a very still day. I would be terrified of drift into next door’s gardens. @LG’s suggestion of mechanical means followed by spot targeting escapees sounds a good one.
If it has been there 20 years, the roots could indeed go deep, there is more going on beneath the surface runners and every last piece of underground rhizome will be a potential new shoot.
There is a company in the US dedicated to the removal of running bamboo. I don’t imagine they will come to London 😊 but it’s interesting to read how they do it:
Maybe, having got the main lot out (and therefore reduced the source of any new runners), there could be a focused use of weedkiller on the bits that have escaped to the neighbours / street - perhaps injected straight into the hollow stems as is sometimes done with knotweed?
Yes. I was thinking about this option.
I would be really cautious about using a professional systemic
weedkiller in a confined urban space on a row of terraced housing, even
on a very still day. I would be terrified of drift into next door’s
gardens.
@Nollie I was worrying about this too. All the gardens are so close together. The bamboo is right opposite our community pavement plot, so it could risk killing the whole thing.
A full solution might be complicated and quite long term.
@fire, out of interest, do you know what species and variety your neighbour's bamboo is? If not, maybe we could have a photo please so that one of our bamboo growers can identify it. This is just so that I and others can make a note to avoid it!
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The roots under the wall and foundations are going to be a problem. We didn't have to deal with that so I can't add anything helpful, unfortunately.
If it has been there 20 years, the roots could indeed go deep, there is more going on beneath the surface runners and every last piece of underground rhizome will be a potential new shoot.
There is a company in the US dedicated to the removal of running bamboo. I don’t imagine they will come to London 😊 but it’s interesting to read how they do it:
https://professionalbamboolandscapers.com/bamboo-services/bamboo-removal-specialists/
Bamboo Removal & Control by UK Bamboo Solutions for the UK
May be worth a call.