I’ve cut the bamboo down in my yard, and now I’m having it all dug. What do I do next? Find a way to remove all the “bulbs” and get fill dirt??

If you are having it all dug, you shouldn't have to worry about any remaining "bulbs" (actually just roots :-) There may be a few that get missed that you need to be on the lookout for. And fill any holes with topsoil, not fill dirt.

Kate-

Can you post a picture? I have a lot of experience with bamboo, and bamboo does not ooze white stuff -- or anything for that matter -- when it's cut. Nor are there smells. I suspect you have some other, bamboo-like plant that is causing these problems,

Gardengal48, it won’t allow me to upload the photo but my yard is basically half an acre of giant clusters of roots and such from having the area cleared. Should I have everything removed? Then start over or can I have this leveled?

Tcameronk gave me a big incentive toward trying his method. It makes a lot of sense to me. No nasty chemicals and at age 69, I can cut it to the ground myself. Considering what it was going to cost me to have someone else come do the work, I don't mind. buying the 40-0-0 several times. I just wish I could communicate directly with Tcameronk to find out exactly how thick it was when he scattered it on top of the soil. Mine is growing inside the fence row. A tractor came a dug it up over a couple of days. Even he is surprised that it hasn't grown back very quickly. But, I'm going to try this method now.

Xtal- Please report back in a couple of years: as someone who has grown bamboo for over 20 years, I am skeptical this will work.

I cut my Bamboo last fall it was about 2 to 3 inch diameter this spring about 200 shoots shot up, also I see a lot of green roots about 1/2 to 3/4 diameter coming out of the ground & going back in he ground Any ideals on killing these roots I have used bottles of vinegar & salt solution cutting the root & putting it in he bottle acting as a water source through the roots??? HELP PLEASE

HU-7.....

Since this post was started there have been no miraculous breakthroughs in dealing with bamboo that has been allowed to grow out of control. You should stop poisoning your yard with chemicals.

If you want to eliminate this, you're going to have to have it dug out. Since it's a large timber bamboo, that probably means contacting a local bamboo nursery that can figure the best way to get it out.

My neighbor recently cut down his bamboo stalks and shoots are popping up everywhere on my hillside. I’ve just been kicking them over and cutting the roots(which seems pointless). Like Kate above, my cut rhizomes are also oozing a nasty white liquid?

So after reading through the thread it sounds like my best bet is to dig it all up, dig a trench on the fenceline, and put a barrier in to try and stop the growth from my neighbors yard. Should I be telling him to do the same?

Jimmy-

I've been growing dozens of different kinds of bamboo for over 20 years, and I have never once seen that white gunk, so I have no idea what is going on there. As for controlling the bamboo, however, I would do the following:

1. Trench near your fence line (but not close enough to disturb the posts) and install 60 mil bamboo barrier. Get 24" barrier and install it so that you have a couple of inches sticking up over the soil level. Since you are on a curving slope, it looks like you will have to use probably two overlapping pieces as the barrier won't bend like that. Some people bolt a lap seam together with stainless steel bars and bolts, but I typically don't go that far. I just overlap by a couple of feet and then put duct tape on both sides of the barrier to keep it flat and avoid having a gap between the two pieces. Here is the source I use for reliable barrier at a reasonable price, and they have it in many lengths which is nice because you won't need to overbuy and be stuck with a big, leftover piece: Lewis Bamboo. The shipping is free, which is important as barrier is heavy stuff. If you want to buy a barrier clamp, you can order one from them, too. After the barrier is installed and you have filled the dirt back in the trench, you can cut the top edge of the barrier with a sharp razor knife so that it has a uniform height over ground level. But make sure you have at least two inches sticking up...otherwise the rhizomes can jump the barrier and your problem will return.

2. Dig and remove as many rhizomes on your side as you have the energy for, but don't worry if you don't get 100% of them. I find that this is fastest with a pickaxe. Then keep kicking over the shoots: the established rhizomes on your side of the barrier will start dying off because they can only keep growing if they get energy from leafy growth. In a couple of years you will not have to deal with this.

3. If you want a bamboo hedge along the fenceline, just install the barrier about 2' in from the fence on your side and it will fill in over time, but be controlled,

THANK YOU! Awesome reply. Sounds like a solid plan!

Good luck. If you have questions as you go along, post again.

I should clarify one thing: you can curve barrier around inside or outside corners easily. you just can't force it to bend down into the ground if there is a curve or a dip. If you're lucky, you'll only need one lap joint at the crest of the slope.

If you want to get rid of it, you can do it overnight (with enough labor). All you have to do is cut off the 3 or 4 roots that form at the nodes of the rhizomes. You have to do them all, but the rhizomes are not hard to follow.

dchall8-

In my experience, it's hard to find all the rhizomes and remove them. Some dive deeper than others or some break when you are pulling them out and it's easy to leave chunks in place that you miss. It also does nothing to solve the problem of re-invasion by the rhizomes even if you do a 100% removal.

I love my bamboo, but it's a continuing project to keep it all where I want it. I finally started putting in barrier around my plantings when I couldn't keep up with or outguess where the rhizomes would come up next.

We have been battling our neighbors bamboo for a couple of years now. We have tried saltwater, bleach, and several other method methods.

Last year we cut all of the bamboo stalks down, poked a small hole in the bottom of the stock, and poured a small amount of Roundup Concentrate in the hole. No large stalks have reappeared.

This year, a number of small shoots have grown from the culms. We locate the rhizomes through these small shoots, and try to dig then out as best we can. We continue to apply Roundup to the small shoots that we cannot dig around. The volume of rhizomes in the small space is remarkable.

Our neighbor has not been vigilant, and we are watching as the bamboo begins to destroy the foundation and Patio next door.

Kudzu9. I have also seen the white slimy, foamy substance being discharged from the rhizomes. I was actually looking for the answer the identity of the substance when I started reading this thread. I don't know what it is, either, but I have seen it numerous times on the bamboo rhizomes that we are trying to eradicate.

jlseibel-

1. Your strategy to find rhizomes based on the survivor shoots that come up is a good one.

2. Your chemical warfare approach isn’t particularly effectve and is just damaging your yard and putting unnecessary chemicals into the environment.

3. Because of your neighbor’s lack of responsibility, you will continue to have a problem until you dig a trench along the property line and put in bamboo barrier.

4. I continue to be puzzled over the white substance coming out of what remains in the ground. Can you post a photo of the bamboo, or the cut off stubs? It would be more explicable to me if the plant was not bamboo, but one of several bamboo look-alikes.

Maybe it’s possible that the oozing white stuff is from the RoundUp? My neighbor told me he cut the stalks and put RoundUp on them and that’s when I started noticing the oozing white stuff from my cut rhizomes.

I’d love to see pictures anyone is able to post of this phenomenon. I’ve been growing over 90 different bamboo species for over 20 years and have yet to see this. Admittedly, I don’t put chemicals on my bamboo, but I’m still skeptical about this happening on real bamboo. Enlighten me please.... :-)

Hi all

i am trying to remove this bamboo - the photos below. Any ideas how to do it - i would like to dig it out but it seems hard as concrete . Help please ?

1. Give the ground a good soaking to soften things up a bit.

2. Work from the edges to take out small size pieces; I use the blade end of a pickaxe, a Sawzall with a long blade, and a 6’ long demolition bar to pry with. A shovel is not much use.

I just used this method to remove a 6’ X 6’ mass of rhizomes where a large bamboo had flowered and died: it took about 3-4 hours.

Thank you. I will try it!

mk235-

Good luck. It’s a bit of a workout, so spreading the task over a couple of days might be advisable :-)

This is a little bit coming out. It gets frothier. I did brush on a little RoundUp when I cut it. This might be the plant's reaction to attempt to purge it.

Kudzu9,

I suspect you might be the most knowledgeable person in here. I'm the one that tried the 40-0-0. At first, I was impressed because it did kill the immediate trunks. Better cause it also killed some other nasty rooted plants. All the bamboo became soft at the base. Just when I was glad to see it, I started seeing that the run off had dissipated to make a milder fertilizer solution. Now, it seems to have encouraged the bamboo to start running again. Grr.

I called an "Expert" from the Bamboo Society who came today and studied the issues here. His easiest advice was to clear cut to the ground. Then, go out every week to 10 days and keep cutting down new shoots. He assured me that within 3 to 6 months, it will have died out. That's the best way to handle it inside the fence row. The roots are shallow, but no choice but using the loppers inside the fence row.

Your advice seems to be the best that I've read here.

Xtal

Xral- The method of cutting everything down repeatedly will work. But it’s more likely to take at least two years before it quits sending up shoots entirely.

Oh horrors. I knew that I could use Triclopyr and inject in down inside the culm once I forced a screw driver past the 1st section. It's my understanding that I've got 4 seconds in which to do that. Right? What are the odds that it will work faster?

jlseibel- Thanks for the photo...very interesting. I’m wondering if that’s oozing, or simply some kind of surface reaction.

Xtal- I’m not a big fan of chemical warfare against plants when there are ways to deal with things without adding this burden to the environment. But if you are going to inject something I doubt there is any magical window of seconds affecting what you are trying to do

OK, sounds like clear cutting will be the direction to go. I'm not a fan of chemicals either. We've ruined out environment by the chemicals we've foisted on it.

Thx for your help.

Xtal-

In the past when I needed to deal with escaped bamboo, I used to relentlessly pursue all the rhizomes. Now I just sever the rhizomes, dig out the biggest ones, and cut off survivor shoots for all the rhizomes I missed. Seems to be working fine. As long as rhizomes get severed from the main clump, they can’t survive if you don’t allow them to have foliage.

Kudzu,

This is going to take a long time, no matter what I end up doing. It appears that I need to cut the bamboo off at ground level. Being in a year long drought cycle now, I know better than to try to water it thinking that it could loosen the soil. But, if I can dig any up, I will. It will be the job of my life. My neighbor told me that the bamboo was here when they moved in? And how far back did that go? Into the fifties. I just wanted to faint. Now, I understand why a Master Gardener friend came for her first visit. She said she had one word for me... "Move". Oh dear. That was 7 yrs ago.

A tractor did take out a 10' depth of 80'. Now, what's left is dealing with the bamboo that was too close to the fence for him to get his tractor. It's all hand work now. I just don't have that type of strength and endurance. But, I do have the tenacity it might take. But, I won't start this job til it's a wee bit cooler. 100º+ high humidity stiffles everyone here. Then, I'll be exposing the back side of 2 cheap rental properties where the tenants could really care less. So, my job is just beginning. I'll check back in a couple of years and give an update.

kudzu9 This has been happening for several months with different rhizome. it's definitely oozing. it gets kind of foamy. It goes on for at least a week and sometimes quite a bit of ooze comes out/drips.

.

Thanks for the info. Quite interesting.

kudzu9

a few days later....oozing white foamy goo

A Washington Post article about the challenges of feeding pandas pointed out that bamboo's reputation as impossible to kill is simply not true. According to the people in charge of supplying the bamboo to the pandas, if you cut it repeatedly, it dies. Can be done in one season.

From their point of view, of course, this was something to be avoided. For people who want to get rid of bamboo, cut off every shoot as it appears. Do this for several months. Bamboo dies.

It's true that you can kill off bamboo in this way, but you're being overly optimistic about accomplishing this in a few months. I have had runaway rhizomes that have continued to shoot over a 3 year period.

Yes, I'm sure it varies according to location, how much it's spread, and the species.

I had to make an account for this thread to express my sympathy and solidarity with everyone. Xtal comment made me laugh as I am too fighting the battle of my life which originated at my neighbors. Since she can't afford to get it removed on her side of the fence I know it is a lost battle for me. However, I recently cut all of it down on my side. There are some smaller stalks left that I have to get to but I've been too busy to do. I've dug out what looked like 15ft long rhizomes with their respective shoots along the way last year. It is like I encouraged them as they are now spreading farther away from the fence towards my side. Some of the rhizomes are unreachable as they go under the root system of other trees and I do not want to kill those. They have killed every beautiful native I put down near the fence. If I didn't know better I would believe these things are out to get me. If anybody figures out the miracle let me know. I understand the appeal of bamboo as it is beautiful and an effective screen but DON'T DO IT. Bamboo always win.

jenny

Help kudzu9, I have health issues that make it impossible to do heavy yard work. My bamboo stand is a circle about 4ft diameter. It has been self contained for many years ,but is now sprouting up all over my yard. I've been cutting down sprouts almost daily.I would never use chemicals. What is my best aproach. I can get the main stand cut down to the ground but am unable to dig up roots.I want to get rid of it completely.

Is it better to a. just keep cutting it down.

b. cover the cut down stand with weighted down black plastic,or

c.cover cut stand with nitrogen fertilizer and weighted down clear plastic

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise

Do you know which bamboo you have? When you say contained, is that with a root barrier? If you dont have a root barrier, have one dropped now. Cutting is a minor discouragement ... if you can't dig it up, I'd cut down and paint the fresh cut with weed killer (it makes my list for weed killer along with bittersweet). If you want to keep some (in a root barrier) drop the barrier before you go arts and crafts on the bits you want eradicated.

Repeated cutting will eventually kill it. Covering it with black plastic will probably hasten its demise. You could hire a teenager to dig up rhizomes.

HU doesn't want to use weed killer.

Oops, missed that line.

1. Black plastic will do absolutely nothing to prevent rhizomes coming up. Yesterday I noticed some humps under heavy-duty landscape fabric that was mulched over. I installed the thick, black, industrial-weight fabric in an area where I had installed bamboo barrier 2 years ago and thought I had removed all stray rhizomes. Apparently I missed three severed rhizomes and they had traveled about 10 feet and were putting up multiple shoots and starting to poke holes in the fabric.

2. Poisons and herbicides won't do anything other than possibly damage other plants nearby.

3. Repeatedly cutting off new shoots will work only if the entire bamboo is growing in your yard. If the bamboo is located in your neighbor's yard, it will continue to send out rhizomes into your yard regardless of what you do.

4. If you have out-of-control bamboo from your neighbor, and the neighbor can't or won't do anything, the only guaranteed solution is to have bamboo barrier installed along the property line. Afterwards, I would choose to remove all the remaining, now-severed rhizomes that were in my yard, but if this is too much work then the approach of continuing to cut off every bit of new shoots as they appear can be tried.

Sorry to see so many people are having the same issues as me, with invasive Bamboo. Mine was actually won at a landscape show as I worked in the green industry. It was suppose to be a non-running, clumping, compact form of Bamboo. Boy do I wish I kept the name of the nursery that donated it. Needless to say, 7 years later, I've been trying to keep the "running bamboo" from running to far onto the neighbors property. To add fuel to the fire, like so many, I have Japanese Knotweed also invading my property. Seems to like to hang out with the bamboo more than anything else though. Another invasive, rhizomatous devil. Easier to cut down and pull out though. Some friends in the business told me to cut the bamboo stalks (preferably new growth) flush to or lower than ground level, so you only have one or 2 segment walls left. Then, drill through those segment walls so you can pour some type of borax solution down (for a more natural approach) or glyphosate (max dose), and actually reach the rhizomes to kill. I'm wondering if that's what people are seeing ooze from their rhizomes. Whatever they poured into the stalk/segment hole. I'm glad to hear of the salt approach. I may try that. I've also had some degree of luck with the tarp method, however, my bamboo is growing on a rocky hill that is very difficult to navigate without injury. Godspeed everyone!

OMG...more chemical warfare to try to control something that can be physically rather than chemically controlled. And FYI: I've grown over 100 species of bamboo on my property and have never had one that was accompanied by Japanese Knotweed. I've also used bamboo barrier and have nothing out of control. If you have something that turns out to be running bamboo and you've let it grow for 7 years without intervening, it's easy to understand why you have a problem. But, in my experience, contaminating your property with chemicals is not a sound approach to dealing with it. The sooner you get out a pickaxe and take out the problem in an environmentally sound manner the better.

Is it safe to put this invasive bamboo in city yard waste pick up? i wouldnt want it to invade other lawns!!!

Lee Ann

Lee Ann-

Apparently you've read one too many urban legends about scary bamboo ;-)

It's not going to do anything in the yard waste pickup other than decompose. If it were that easy to propagate, those of us who like bamboo wouldn't have to go shopping at nurseries....

Hi can anyone identify the type of bamboo this is-- if it's invasive or not and if it is what is the proper way of killing the roots. It might also be River Cane

Rad-

Looks like one of the Phyllostachys species, a running bamboo. Chemicals do not work on the root system, though many people have poisoned their yards finding this out. To prevent regrowth, you can do one of two things:

1) Dig out all the rhizomes with a pickaxe. This will be hard work, but will get rid of the problem if you do it thoroughly. Or,

2) Keep watering the area and immediately cut off all new growth that shoots up until it exhausts itself. This is a less labor intensive approach, but will take 3-5 years and won't do anything to take care of the old, hardened stubs that are sticking up.