digging is hard work.make sure she drinks plenty of
water and uses her legs to lift.

Bring a good chair for yourself to set in while you watch her dig

What sort of heavy duty shovel? You really need an English garden spade, which has a straight edge for cutting, as opposed to a shovel which is pointed and based on a scoop. A good English spade can be sharpened on a bench grinder to axe sharp. I have an old Bulldog of London one, but a friend just showed me his great steel nurseryman's spade. I'll post a link below.

Also bring a digging bar if you've got one and something to lever it against, like a big chunk of broken concrete or piece of firewood.

An axe can come in handy if there's room to swing it to cut rhizomes. Secaturs (lopping sheers) for cutting rhizomes and culms.

Bring gloves and wear good soled shoes so you can stomp on your spade.

Start early.

Here is a link that might be useful: all steel nursery spade

Ken
The best advice i can give is to get as much rootball
as possible and dont let the root dry out before planting.

I recently dug up 20 or so plants and transorted them accross town. I took a shovel a spade an axe and a large pry bar (6')
what i did was used the axe cut out my perimiter then used the spade to dig a foot orso trench on that perimiter. I then worked the shovel underneath and dug out excess dirt. Then i worke dthe prybar under and broke it free . I then wrapped the rootball in a plastic bag and filled with water. if you are just digging next door I would suggest you plan ahead get your site prepped well before you dig.

HOW MUCH OF THE UPPER PLANT DO YOU NEED TO LEAVE WITH THE ROOTS? WHAT TIME OF THE YEAR IS BEST FOR DIGGING BAMBOO TO TRANSPLANT?

Don't forget the pruning saw.

The kind that can get into tight places will come in handy.

Axe, shovel and a prybar or strong shovel.

Cutting rhizomes is very easy with a battery-powered reciprocating saw and a long, metal-cutting blade (fine tooth).