do they have a dog?
if not, I think I would sneak over the fence and help that poor plant out!
It would much prefer to have a fast death... than die of misery and neglect.

Moni

I wouldn't do anything. If you happened to talk to them tell them a few horror stories of bamboo. I have giant miscanthus. It would be a good screen instead of bamboo. Maybe they are getting the bamboo so their neighbors won't see their junk and turn them in. If you get along with the kid tell him. Maybe they will forget to plant it. If you start something, they may be tougher than you or come in your yard. You sometime hear on the news of neighbors fighting with bad consequences.

Sharon,

I love bamboo and would love to plant some here. Maybe one day I will, but so far I haven't for fear it will escape our handful of acres and invade the property next door. Unless contained with underground barriers (fiberglass, concrete, steel, etc.), running types of bamboo are like bermuda grass on steroids. If it is a clumping type, it will spread much more slowly, but still will spread.

Well, you could try talking to them but I am willing to bet it won't help. People who keep a junky yard like that clearly won't care if you don't want their invasive bamboo creeping into your yard. I suspect they are going to plant the bamboo to hide their junk so the neighbors will stop calling code enforcement on them, and if that is the case, talking with them won't help.

If it was my yard?

I'd watch carefully to see if they plant it. Then I'd watch for the next month or two to see if it grows. Maybe it will die. More likely? It will grow and, at some point, creep into the fence line and into your yard.

If it was my yard? I'd call and get my yard marked so I could dig without hitting a gas line or buried cables or anything, and then I'd put in a bamboo barrier. Would it be an expense I don't want to incur and a lot of work I'd rather not deal with? Yes, absolutely, but then there's this.......

I grew up in a neighborhood with chain link fences. Two different neighbors had bamboo. With the house across the street from us, the bamboo grew through or under the chain link fence and invaded surrounding yards for many years. The neighbors whose yards had been invaded were not happy....but it is a free country and you couldn't make those people take out their bamboo or control it. Eventually that house sold after being owned by the same family for about 40 years, roughly in about the late 1980s. II think at that time my dad said the bamboo had been there since the 1940s. In the yard where it grew, it covered the entire backyard except for a concrete patio. The guy who bought the house hired a guy with a backhole to remove the fence, the trees and the bamboo. It was really difficult as they had to maneuver around the gas line, sewer line and water line. He was an instant neighborhood hero, as he had the guy remove the invading bamboo from surrounding yards (with the permission of those residents). It was a big expense because he had hackberry trees and bamboo that had grow together in one big ugly mass for decades and they all were tangled together with the chain link fence. It was a nightmare.

With the other house, they originally planted it along their back fenceline for privacy. Eventually it ate up the whole backyard. They hired a guy with a backhoe to dig it out. This grove was at least 30 years old by then. He seemed to have removed it all. They built a detached garage/shop where the bamboo had been, put in a patio, planted a lawn, etc......and then the bamboo started coming back. It literally was growing out from under the concrete foundation of the garage. I don't know what they did to get rid of it after that....because I grew up, got married and moved away. That house seemed like it changed owners every 2 or 3 years. in the 1980s an 1990s. I often wondered if the bamboo was chasing people off.

So, given that I could't prevent someone from planting the bamboo. I'd put in the barrier, knowing I'd not have to worry about the bamboo invading. I've see what bamboo can do in a neighborhood with chain link fences and it is a nightmare. No fence will stop it, of course, but with a chain link fence they become entangled in one another at the ground level and it is a big mess.

Bamboo has its place, but it is best-managed in a poolside situation where you have concrete all around it to some extent and it cannot easily escape and go wild. I've seen it used that way and it looks beautiful.

Maybe you'll get lucky and it will at least be a clumping type and not a running type.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: An Example of A Bamboo Barrier

I tried to warn my neighbor's son about poison ivy being in the spot that he was gathering wood. All I got was a "uh huh" and a quick run around as if I weren't qualified to tell him what to do. I guess I didn't look "stoned" and, therefore unqualified to mention anything.

They let their grass go to pot and I would dearly love to come over and clear it of dandelions as rabbit fodder, but that would just make me "crazY'.

Good luck with your neighbor.

I like the idea of the barrier. (or spraying brush be gone every night over the fence :) ...just kidding!) The barrier is probably your best option.

Lisa

Lisa, I know you were kidding, but what if Sharon had to spray some brush on her side of the fence and the brushkiller accidentally drifted onto the bamboo? Well, I'm not advocating that either....but sometimes stuff just happens.

Dawn

I guess that is one advantage of living in a semi arrid region. I've know a few who had bamboo and have never heard of it spreading. Guess it must not be as drought tolerant as bind weed. Sounds very invasive. I try not to plant anything that will cause neighbors problems. I try to keep the bindweed on my properties edge. Do wish my neighbors would fight it on their property also. Jay

The barrier is the best bet...but...in the end, you might have to build that barrier around the entire property line in the back yard. $$$$ Ouch...your poor, aching back...

Another option is to accept the inevitable and start researching bamboo. Once it invades your back yard, with a little thought, you can monetize it, building everything from patio and lawn furniture to room dividers and knicknacks and more. You can also sell bamboo to hobbyists and craft shops not only locally, but around the nation through ebay and their online competitors. It's one way to get a little 'payback' on your neighbor while buying some of the little things around your home that you appreciate.

That, or start looking at real estate and planning the move to your new home in a new neighborhood. A neighborgood that you've spent quite some time researching and investigating before you move into it. There's no rush, you've got plenty of time, here.

The only other option I can see is to start bothering the city about code enforcement, and in the process ensure that both the city and your neighbor hate you with a passon...which may invoke the most negative aspects of that old American classic: The Neighborhood Feud.

There are no easy or simple fixes with this one.

Been there, done that, made the move.

Free advice. Take it for what it's worth. YMMV. Batteries not included. No warranty expressed or implied.

I would dearly love to plant bamboo along my fence to screen my view of the 7-11 that is being constructed (and hey, if it played havoc with the construction, oh, gee, my bad), but I don't desperately hate my neighbors, so I settle for looking at pictures of bamboo.

Well....I planted that little "thought" and then took off running, didn't I??
Dawn's narrative(s) of what it can do are what had already been running through my mind, unfortunately. Sadly, I have no Agent Orange at my disposal, and I'm truly not inclined to be hopping the fence to kidnap and destroy it (only in my dreams!).
I DO like the idea of capitalizing on it and making my fortune (so I can move to another home), though. Wish that one could happen :-)
I've decided that, for the time being, I'm just going to wait and see what happens. They have planted things before, but they have all died, due to neglect. Maybe that will happen here.
If I do end up talking to the parents (or maybe their son), I will let them know I've seen the bamboo in the bucket and ask what they're thinking of doing with it. If they really are intending to plant it, I will let them know of its beyond-invasive tendencies and very politely BEG them not to plant it.
If all else fails, I do hate to think of having to install a barrier...especially since that back part of my yard is the most unmulched, unenriched red clay ever...very difficult to dig 2 inches down, much less 2 feet. Perhaps I should check the ordinances of The Village to see if there are rules against planting bamboo - nah, probably not.

Thanks for the thoughts...Sharon

Hi Sharon, sorry to hear of this! I can speak from 18 months experience, I do hope they don't plant the bamboo. You might remember we bought the "bamboo house" in December 2011. I don't think they can neglect it enough that it would die - if that would work ours would have died from the previous owner's neglect. I've noticed leaving our old neighborhood in The Village recently that one house along Penn (north of the library, I think, on the east side of Penn) had planted bamboo all along the outside of their fence on Penn, and it was dead. And I thought "whew, that was lucky" and when I drove by the other day, it was greening up! Ugh!

You don't need to do anything right away, but there may come a time that you might want to install a barrier. It can be acquired locally at Alligator Alley on 10th, it is about $3 per linear foot, and you need to dig 20-22 inches down and put it in at an angle to direct the bamboo rhizome's growth to the top level of the soil where you can see it and cut it off if needed. I believe a grove, once established, can send out runners equal to the height of the plants in the grove. Bamboo is a grass, so the 20-30ft tall grove in my backyard has sent runners easily 20-25 feet away. It's not such a big problem in the lawn area if you keep your lawn mowed, it will knock the bamboo down and prevent it from being established. If it's in a neglected lawn or flower bed, it can get real problematic, real fast. I will upload a few pics tomorrow when I can go out in the daytime and snap some. Bamboo grows over 1 foot per day, sometimes more. So DH might get into the previously neglected flower bed and cut the 'boo down to the ground and all will be fine. Less than one week later, there are 8-10 foot shoots in that place. They all need to be dug out, and the roots are tough and thick. We will be installing a barrier soon, to cut back on the amount of maintenance we have to keep up with on our 'boo during spring and fall shooting season.

Ha, if it was against regs in The Village I have seen a few houses that need to be turned in! :)

Sharon - have you checked with your city or county government to find out if they have rules about what people can't plant.

If the local governmental entity has dealt with bamboo and/or bamboo planting people, they will know firsthand about the problems and may have thoughts about how to deal with your neighbor if he/she decides to plant bamboo close to your property line.

In wet years, our climate is like a subtropical rainforest - vegetation grows incredibly fast. There are a few areas on our property where invasive vines with thorns have taken over, and smothered all the native vegetation. We use an industrial strength herbicide applied with a paintbrush to kill the vines - this gives us a break but the vines usually come back in a year or two. The best plan is to apply it several times over a season.

I know some people view all herbicides as bad. If we couldn't use a herbicide selectively, the invasives would take over.

Sharon, I couldn't get logged in yesterday morning to post the photos I took for you, so am getting it done now. There will be a few... This first one is kind of how the bamboo grove is "supposed to look" in our yard.

Then, when the bamboo escaped (it is supposed to stay over on that left hand side of the first picture), it can shoot up so fast it will take over if you don't get after it. This area DH had cleared about a week/ten days previous. Now the shoots are way over my head (see the hammock stand for scale? and because I was too lazy to move it out of the picture?)

Mia, we've been looking for some dried bamboo about that size to use as garden stakes. Dried bamboo stakes that size, about four or five feet long, are perfect for all kinds of uses in the garden. I bought three dozen at WalMart last year. Now, I wish I'd bought every one they had. This year, the local store isn't carrying any bamboo that size. Either that, or it's flying off the rack before I see it...

Come on by any big trash day and you'll find it piled at our curb :) I brought a big armload to the spring fling, too. And if you're up for a trip to okc, hit me up.

Mia, your first pic looks like paradise! Second pic...not so much :) I'm grateful I am not fighting that :)

Lisa

Yikes!
Bucket is still at the back of the fence...I'm half-tempted to, uh, "amend" it with a bit of vinegar...ahem.

I don't want a jungle :-O

Sharon, I think it would be okay to Monsanto it....it's not in the ground yet :)