Running bamboos planted along property lines have to be kept from invading neighboring lots. So Plant It and Forget It they are not just for that reason alone. If you have nothing out there now and you want quick results fencing may be your best option. With much of the market for bamboo plants in my region consisting of those whose specific goals mean they should really choose fencing - but don't want to pay for it.

But if they go ahead and install running bamboo instead without investing in adequate containment (and undertaking associated follow up maintenance) then they will be paying for having made that choice also.

Controlling Bamboo (bamboogarden.com)

There are clumping bamboos that will work in smaller city lots. Don't plant a running bamboo. Serious. Don't do it. Fargesia is the bamboo genus you want to check out at the website listed above. Just don't plant it right on the property line. At least four feet from the line. I am growing it at 4000' elevation near Waynesville, NC. A clumping bamboo given the space it needs is pretty close to no maintenance.

I have seen running bamboo planted--the owner said, "Oh, they'll be fine."--now popping up forty feet away in a hayfield. Not good at all.

"I have seen running bamboo planted--the owner said, "Oh, they'll be fine."--now popping up forty feet away in a hayfield"

Pretty much an impossible situation!! Running bamboo cannot spread that far - it just doesn't have the genetic make-up to do so. And since flowering and setting seed is an extremely rare occurrence for any bamboo species, it's unlikely that is the source of its appearance at such a distance.

Most probably a mislabeled runner :-)