new, and trying to save my yard from bamboo

14 years ago

i know im a new guy. i usually stay to the automotive and woodworking forums, but i need some help.

about a year ago, my wife and i bought our first house. when we bought it, it already had a well established grove of bamboo down by the creek. the bamboo is about 40 feet tall, 2-6 inches in diameter, and straight as an arrow. it is also spreading. it had already completely taken over the woods, is coming up in the middle of the driveway, is coming up through the floor of the shed, and is spread to the front yard, drainage ditch, back yard, and flower beds.

so far, i have tried everything i can to kill it. i cut it back with a chainsaw. ive poured everything i can think of in the roots and stumps, some EPA approved and some not. ive cut out all the roots i can find. ive dug out stumps. right now, im spending every morning before work and every evening afer kicking off the new shoots that i find.

i wouldlove to contain and kill this stuff. trenching isnt an option due to the 100+ year old oak trees, and the 40+ year old maples. is there any other way short of making homemade agent orange or something to kill this stuff?

please, shed some light on this for me. i would love to have a nice yard for my wife and daughter, and not spend the rest of my life kicking over bamboo shoots and tripping over roots that are looped in the perfect size, shapr, and heigt for my boot to slide under.

thanks

Michael

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Comments (5)

patdagardenguy
14 years ago
If it were me, I'd start by soliciting help, many people are interested in free bamboo and would be willing to help remove/cleanup for divisions. Also, having knowledgeable people on your property would not hurt, as they could give advice. May help to contact the local bamboo society if there is one. If you don't get any takers, I'd start by cutting it down everywhere you don't want it. The following year, kick over all the shoots that come up outside the area where you'd like it. The shooting season should only be a month or so. Keep doing that year over year and eventually the rhizomes will weaken or die from lack of foliage to provide energy. Spraying with chemicals isn't effective at all, especially if you want a nice yard for your family. good luck
sfhellwig
14 years ago
From my observations on this forum, once a bamboo is established you can't really get it back into control, only eradicate it. If you wanted to have the bamboo later on I would divide some out and establish it elsewhere while you destroy the established grove. Having said that, CUT IT ALL DOWN. The key is to not leave anything green above ground. If you can't root prune then you can't separate the rhizome you want to live and what you want to die. Kicking over shoots guides the grove but everything underground keeps being fed. So it all has to go. Cut it all, then kicking over the shoots will begin to exhaust the root mass. This will still likely take several years. Meanwhile your original division you set aside can be getting healthy to be transplanted back into a controlled spot. Upon re-establishing the division you can control it with root pruning so it will stay put. At least that's what seems to work for others. Other popular suggestion is to cut, water, tarp for a few days. I believe in the sun it steams the root mass for added kill effect.
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cjc45
14 years ago
When we bought our first house there was a bamboo grove in an inconvenient location. Our neighbor dug all his out, a tremendous job. We just kept mowing and pretty soon it didn't come up any more.
randytootall
14 years ago
rent a backhole,dig it out and be done with it !!!
ivillage_rex
14 years ago
Omg? 6 inch diameter culms? Ship that boo to me and I'll love you forever!!!

Or...you can try eating all its shoots :3.