Hi Hannah, That link didn't work for me, could you try again? Are you in the northeast as well? I had a bunch more of it that I pulled out, but decided to leave one just in case it was something pretty. Until this weekend, it was all swamped by this year's Forget-me-nots, anyway.

And just to attest that this isn't just a California problem, here is what the US Forestry Service has to say about it: "OTHER STATUS: Giant reed is listed as a noxious weed in Texas, an exotic plant pest in California, an invasive weed in Hawaii, and as an invasive, exotic pest in Tennessee. See the Invaders or Plants databases for more information. Though accounts in the literature vary, a review by Bell [11] indicates giant reed is thought to be native in eastern Asia, and it has been cultivated throughout Asia, southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years. In North America, it was intentionally introduced from the Mediterranean to the Los Angeles area in California in the early 1800s (Robbins and others 1951, as cited in [49])[28], and has been widely planted throughout the warmer states as an ornamental and for erosion control along drainage canals [49,74]. It has escaped cultivation as far north as Virginia and Missouri, and abundant wild populations occur along the Rio Grande River [74] and along ditches, streams, and seeps in arid and cis montane regions of California (Robbins and others 1951, as cited in [49]). According to Bell [11], giant reed is invasive throughout the warmer coastal freshwaters of the United States from Maryland westward to northern California. Wunderlin [107] recognizes the variety versicolor as occurring in Florida, and Jones and others [53] describe that variety as a cultivar. The literature contains specific references to the occurrence of giant reed in the 4 provinces of Mexico listed below [2,61,82,98]. Giant reed is likely present in other areas of Mexico. Plants database provides a state distribution map of giant reed in the United States. The following lists include North American ecosystems, habitat types, and forest and range cover types in which giant reed is known or thought to be invasive, as well as some that may be invaded by giant reed following disturbances in which vegetation is killed and/or removed and/or soil is disturbed (e.g. cultivation, fire, grazing, herbicide application, flooding). Giant reed is a hydrophyte and riparian areas or wetlands within these habitats could be subject to invasion by giant reed even if the habitat itself is not considered a wetland. For example, Nixon and Willett [71] list giant reed as a plant found within the Trinity River Basin in Texas. Habitats within the basin include cross timbers and prairies, blackland prairies, post oak (Quercus stellata) savannah, pineywoods, and Gulf prairies and marshes. These lists are not necessarily exhaustive. More information is needed regarding incidents and examples of particular ecosystems and plant communities where giant reed is invasive." Here is a link that might be useful: Forestry Service on Arundo Donax

Serviceberry is very prunable to a tree shape. Standard pruning techniques. You can't trim the either of Rubus you listed like trees. They just don't work that way. Elderberry only grow so high. Pruning may make more growth, but not height. But I've never heard of anyone pruning an elderberry. They never need it. I'm not familiar with huckleberries, but they are in the blueberry clan so I would expect them to behave similarly. Blueberries only grow so tall - in fact, some can be quite short. I would expect the only pruning that is done on blueberries is for rejuvenation or to encourage fruiting rather than trying to create a tree shape or height. FataMorgana

Bummer. That said, I am not a purest about anything. I think that if most of your yard is catering to wildlife , that this will not tip the long term effect. I think that bamboo is a good dirt builder and birds love it. Wildlife is also attracted to non native species.. My only concern is the damage that it might do to the foundation over the years. The clumpers do expand out in a formidable root mass when happy. Are they allowed to build right up to the plot line? I had old ubiquitous running bamboo that we contained in retaining walls and it got above 2 floors and would have done most of the third floor. I imagine with the hanging over of the crown yours will create zones of privacy, maybe not complete privacy. I think that you will get used to it after a decade or so. I found that we are flexible humans and the allusion of privacy is often just as good as complete privacy in our minds.. Is there anything else that you can plant. I suspect that the bamboo does capture rain in the leaves and mosquitos love it or so some people say. Others say that is a myth. I had an awful mosquito problem and I had a lot of bamboo in the neighborhood. I also had a river not far away and a dry creek bed with wallows.. I read somewhere that it was the bamboo that attracted them but I have also read the opposite..