4200 Sq. Ft. of Bamboo Shoots

DIY2009

I have about a 60 x 70 area of what I think is Running Bamboo in my yard. I'm located in South Eastern Virginia and the temp. is averaging 45 - 55. What is the best way to eliminate this type of Bamboo? What type of equipment is best suited for its removal?

joecaption

http://www.completebamboo.com/bamboo_removal.html

sdsester

If it has gotten away and grown freely I wish you luck. You are going to have to dig it out and probably with some fairly heavy equipment. Make sure to locate underground utilities first.

I loved specificying and planting bamboo in landscape designs but you have to use it responsibly and contain its runners. Or, you face the situation you have now.

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guynextdoor

Bamboo is a tough weed to eliminate. Once they take root they can go wild unless contained regularly.

Fairview

When you say " shoots " I'm imagining young new tender growthjust emerging. Is that correct?

wewantutopia

are you sure it is bamboo or is it "Japanese knottweed"? If the latter I wish you luck as it is VERY invasive. digging the root clumps and treating the foliage with a 15% solution of garlon 3 will kill it in a few years. there is no silver bullet. all it needs is 1 inch of root to resprout.

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herdfan

Spike herbicide will kill it. And every other plant nearby.

redman88

bulldose the top 2 foot of soil in a 80x100 area. only way to be 100%

butterkups

I purchased an old Victorian 2 years ago that had an area of timber bamboo (running kind) that had been growing for 25+ years. It was 100'x30' and was so dense that you could not see thru groove.

The running roots had knocked out a layer of my brick foundation getting to a water source and broke my sewer main at a 3" to 4" coupling.

Upon purchase my ins agent said he would have to exclude the bamboo for damage to my home or the neighbors, so I cut down over 500 timbers averaging height was 20' in length and had a craftsman take them all. Then I rented a mini excavator for 3 days and literally roto tilled every square inch of my yard about 3 feet deep. I ended up hauling over 17,000 pounds of roots to the dump and after all said and done my yard level dropped as much as 8" in many spots. In addition, I pulled over 200' of bamboo root from out of my sewer line.

After a full year of no bamboo, and growing season it didn't come back. Now it's been shy of 2 years and still nothing.

I found this method to work best. No chemicals just 3 grueling days of hard work and lots of runs to dump.

SPS-1

Wow!!! I guess I can't complain any more about needing to pull the occasional yellow nutsedge.

wkearney99

Or to quote the movie Alien, "Nuke the site from orbit, that's the only way to be sure."

Bamboo is horrendously difficult to eliminate. Total excavation would be my suggestion. And take the soil to the landfill, don't inflict it on someone else as fill.