the best way is to cut it all down, and keep cutting down any sprouts that come up. keep doing this till it has tired out the root system and can no longer grow. ...

we have been cutting down the stuff for nearly 2 years and it still is there. We wil keep trying though. Thank you.
AR_Dramaqueen

well one other quick note. make sure that u cut it ALL down. dont leave any above ground, not even the stuff in your beds that u thought were nice for some shade. u NEED to make sure that there isnt any above the ground at all, otherwise it wont work. also if u can avoid giving the roots any water it would help alot. i guess that would mean not watering your lawn or beds, but it would help the killing process alot.

good luck.

Well, the no watering thing will be impossible, but we will try cutting everything.
Thank you for all of your help. I will tell my dad.
AR_Dramaqueen

This is mostly based on things I have read on the internet which I cannot confirm however if you can cover certain parts of your yard with something to stop shoots from appearing or at least getting access to much sun light you might can at least slow the growth rate (while destroying any culms that are encounterd).

This might not be practical though since the bamboo has spread into so many areas.

It's too late...you need to sell your house and move quickly...

...it'll be coming inside the house next, so don't delay...get out now while you still can...:

Do you know what kind of bamboo is this ? and how big around they are ? and can you post some pictures of them and post them on here and let us see how the bamboo coming out of the blacktop ?

Where in AR are you from ? I am from AR also and about 35 miles south of Jonesboro in the country... and I have a few of bamboos ... would you like to have some more different kind of bamboos ? :)

I will send you email to introduce myself...

Rog from Pennington AR
Jackson county

I think that water is the primary matter. Boo's root can
survive underground for a long long period with water.

You won't kill it for sure if "Well, the no watering thing will be impossible, but we will try cutting everything."

Cutting actually encourages more growing/shooting - this is
a typical behave of bamboo - that is why bamboo survive.

If you really want to kill it you need to make full use of
the dry season - cut all the part above ground and let your
garden dry for the entire dry season.

Remember: the problem is just started - do you have neighbour?

Good luck!

Well, I didn't see the "Cutting actually encourages more growing/shooting - this is
a typical behave of bamboo - that is why bamboo survive. "

So, we cut All of it down.

We can't move. That's crazy. You surely coun't have been serious about that.

AR_Dramaqueen

cut it down everyday. No photosynthesis=death.

Have you tried using straight 41% Round Up on it? After cutting down the stalks...paint the cut stalks with Round up.

Cut down the bamboo just below a node on each stalk, then fill the remaining bamboo stalk with herbicide.

In addition to the toxicity issues surrounding the use of a heavy duty herbicide, there is also the fact that bamboo often do not get whacked by their use. I recommend the physical control methods that others have described.

I couldn't help but add my 2cents in! You really had me laughing about moving! My story is I planted bamboo about
15 ft from our back door against my husband's better judgement. It didn't do much the first 2 years. This past year, I finally got rid of the broken concrete patio and redid it with pavers. I suppose the bamboo found out and decided to grow this year about 5x the growth it had done in the past. Of course, I had to hear a lot of "I told you so's from my hubby but the real problem is the roots have brought up the entire side of the new patio.
I ran to Home Depo and after the salesman was finished with his condolences, he suggested I could try the Round Up. I spent the last 2 days removing 1/2 of my patio to reach some of the runners and chop them off. We sprayed the ground under the pavers & put everything back together.
After reading this post, I'm convinced even more now that I am in terrible trouble, for I know I didn't get rid of the problem, just delayed it. I'm really worried about how far the runners will reach and how soon the new patio will start coming up again. I must also add that of all I have planted in the yard, that darn bamboo is the prettiest.

maja-
To control bamboo, you need to rhizome prune at least once a year, using a shovel to discover and sever the rhizomes that are going where you don't want them. Unlike many plants, severing the rhizomes kills all growth beyond the cut line...as long as you haven't let the rhizomes do their own thing for a couple of years and establish new "satellites." If the rhizomes you went after were fairly recent growth, you would not have had to remove any of your patio; you just would have had to cut the rhizomes at the edge where they went under the patio. However, it's not clear whether yours are established or not. And I'll repeat from my previous message, stuff like Roundup generally doesn't seem to help much.
And I guarantee that the stock clerk at HD is not the best source for specialized gardening info.

I am so sorry for you, Maja. Sounds like we are up the same creek without a way to kill our bamboo.
We tried cutting ours and little ones are just coming right back up. I have no clue what to do now.

I completely removed a mature grove of Phy Aureosulcata by transplanting it, which was some work for sure but it did the job and in the process I left lots of rhizomes in the ground but the owner continued to mow over any new shoots that came up. The 20 year old grove is gone. Well actually it is now in my yard.

If I wanted to get rid of a grove without transplanting or digging, I would rely on what I have learned about the plant in terms of growth habits/plant culture - the key things are that a rhizome can not live long-term without having a culm attached that is actively photosynthesizing, and that a rhizome expends a great deal of energy producing new culms.

I would cut down ALL of the culms. I would then start watering like crazy to encourage the rhizomes to produce new culms. I would let those new culms get a few feet tall and then kick them over/cut/mow them down. I would start the watering cycle again and repeat the cutting down, watering cycle.

This will not kill off the grove overnight, or even in the first year but it will do the job. You MUST NEVER let ANY of the rhizomes produce and sustain culms that have leaves. The rhizomes will eventually run out of the required energy to continue producing shoots and they will rot in the ground over time. Don't get discouraged when you see the new shoots after cutting down the culms, stay with it and you'll win. I bet that by this time next year you will have almost gotten rid of it if you have been thorough in continuing to cut down, water to encourage new shoots, and cut down again. Don't waste money on poisons, they are not reliable, the above method will work and its not really that much of a job once the initial culm cut down has happened - which IS a lot of work as you already know, but the new shoots are tender & brittle and easy to kick over.

One question, What are you guys considering "culms"? Is that like the root? We have been pulling up, kicking apart, mowing, and cutting by hand all bamboo that has been reaching the surface of our yard.

The "culm" is the name for the stalk, or shoot of the bamboo. It's the part above ground. Just cut it off as close to the ground as possible. (Cut and cut and cut and cut and cut....)

OH ok thanks.

hey y'all,
anyone out there with bamboo want to send me a few cuttings?

greenbud-
Relatively few bamboo can be propagated from cuttings, and, for those that this works with, it involves special techniques. What you generally need is a decent size division of a root ball, preferably with at least one culm.