Bye-bye bamboo
KT53
Posts: 7,762
I've finally dug out the last lump of the bamboo clump, but still have to trace about half a dozen runners and get them. The bamboo itself didn't root too deep, only a matter of 6 inches or so. The bigger problem was the roots of the buddleia and Rose of Sharon which were growing amongst the bamboo.
On the positive side I have about 50 canes now ranging from 4 to 13 feet in length, gave probably the same number to my neighbours and still donated about 100 to a local gardening club. Yup, it was quite a stand of bamboo.
I'd always disagreed with those who said that bamboo is invasive, and I genuinely never had a problem until a couple of years ago when I had work done in the garden. The people doing the work removed the timber I had buried in the soil to contain the bamboo and the bamboo went for freedom very quickly after that.
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Thankfully, the dry weather has limited the growth of the grass so I've managed to avoid mowing for 3 weeks. The bamboo shoots are showing the line of the runners so it should be comparatively straightforward, if damaging to the lawn, to get most of it out. Then I'll need to keep an eye for any new growth and remove that too.
It will take time but I think it's achievable. There are about half a dozen runners to trace.
ah yes, me old bamboo... my brother in law gave me some and after a year or so I realised he did not like me.
hes had to have a digger get his out of his backgarden after complaints from the neighbours having had it break into their patio!
even monty put his in a steel container, and even then he said to keep an eye on it.
bamboo is for pandas in china. and they are becoming extinct. says something about it!
If it's the invasive type, steel containers don't restrict bamboo. At our last house in Sydney someone planted bamboo in a buried stainless-steel laundry trough. The runners hit the walls, ran straight up the sides and out.