Mouse – posted 09 October 2003 09:41
My neighbor grows this and its invading my yard. Shoots are coming up through my lawn. Does anyone have any idea how to stop this?
redbird – posted 09 October 2003 11:48
You cannot kill the bamboo rhizomes trying to invade your yard (bamboo is a member of the grass family) without killing the entire grove – yes, all the culms (poles) that you see above ground are interconnected, part of one giant plant. Even if you tried, your use of herbicides probably would not be successful.
The rhizomes can run underground and pop up more than 15 yards away from the original grove. You can:
a) Fight the intrusion by stepping on new shoots when they pop up (they will bend over and break off easily when they first push up through the soil) and also hold them at bay with your mower. You have probably already discovered that while new shoots and rhisomes are fairly easy to cut back, it doesn’t take long for them to really toughen up.
b) Use a rhizome barrier (really your neighbor’s responsibility – you can probably address the issue as a civil action or w/local ordinances). If the neighbor won’t take responsibility and you don’t want to fight enforcement, you can do the barrier on your property. This can be done several ways.
You can dig a 30″ deep trench entirely around the grove (or around the area you want to protect from intrusion) angled slightly outward to encourage rhizome growth to shoot up where it can be cut back, and either use polypropylene rhizome barrier material ($1.75 or more per linear ft. plus shipping – it’s heavy stuff)or you can pour a 6″ thick concrete barrier into the trench – realizing that any cracks will be used by the bamboo to breach the barrier.
Other methods I have heard of include simply leaving the trench open like a moat and cropping rhizomes as they attempt to breach the gap (dangerous to trip on, though – and ugly).
I have not heard of any cheap, easy methods of controlling running type bamboos – which is why many have gone to clumping types for specimen plants/privacy screens, etc. This is your neighbor’s responsibility and I would at least try to get them to address it. Good luck.
Mike
Mouse – posted 09 October 2003 13:11
Thanks for your reply Mike. I’ve been mowing and breaking them down, but now when I dig down just an inch or so I can see the runners all over the place.
I think it will be difficult to approach with the neighbor as english isn’t his native language. The good news (well not really good, but helpful to me) the neighbor behind him isn’t happy about the bamboo either, he planted it right in the corner of his yead, to it’s actually creeping into three of our yards. I think we might be able to approach it as a group… ? maybe a letter or something?
Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 09 October 2003 21:35
I’ve been mowing it off successfully for 10 years. You can slow it down faster by chopping through each rhizome you see. Most bamboo is notoriously hard to propagate with rhizomes, so cutting them really sets them way back.
seed – posted 11 October 2003 21:28
Mouse, another material for possible use as an underground barrier is aluminum roof flashing. It’s available in considerable widths, I think 36 inches, and it’s thick enough that there is a good chance the rhizomes won’t go through it.
As for the letter writing campaign, I suggest try talking one-on-one, otherwise your neighbor might freak out and think everyone is out to get him. Forceful attempts at dealing with neighbors can quickly escalate and cost enormous time and energy to resolve. If you have to resign to fighting this on your own property, that might be more tolerable than a border war.
In any case, make sure you know where your property line is, before digging any trenches.
Phil
Mouse – posted 13 October 2003 12:13
Phil, thanks for your advice. I guess the letter writing was more to deal with the english/communication problem.
I haven’t done anything yet. Still stewing on this one.