I'm sitting here wondering if boiling water poured onto the soil would cook the roots enough to kill 'em. Has anybody here tried it?
unwanted bamboo
Actually plant tissue dies at anything much above 130 degrees. Heat is a catalyst. It will kill anything good in the soil too. Also since bamboo roots can run laterally for great distances it would take a lot of advance excavation to determine where the roots were located. Schlepping containers of near boiling water around the garden is risky and not likely to solve the problem. You could try solarization if there arent any desirable plants nearby. Cover the entire area with heavy black plastic for the whole growing season. Watch for any escaping runners out the edges or runners poking through the plastic. Weight the plastic down along the edges and let it cook. You might want to put a heavy duty weed mat under the black plastic to reinforce the plastic. Bamboo shoots are strong.
An update with my battle with running bamboo:
From March until mid-July I faithfully cut back the bamboo each morning - but it is still growing!
It's now mid-August and I am digging it up by hand! Hardest part is when I encounter tree roots. Some of the rhyzomes run parallel to the roots. This morning I had to lift a tree root with a shovel, sit on the handle to keep the root elevated while I pulled the rhyzome out!
I have to win this battle or the bamboo will take over my vegetable garden.
Well, heres how I keep the neighbors damboo in check!
Buy a container of concentrated round-up, ( or Ace hardware has a "generic" version..still its glysophate)
Cut the bamboo at ~ 3" above ground level, IMMEDIATELY pour into the open stalk, as much glysophate that the reed will hold. ( I used a "squirt bottle" found at the 99 cent store with a very small nozzle) The bamboo will realize it has been damaged, and draw any liquid back down into the rhizome only to have the glysophate "do its job" on the root!
Prior to using this method, I faught digging this crap for 18 years! Now, at least I have it under control. (even if my neighbor doesn't!)
Jerry
jerrytx - Wow, 18 years! I hope we don't have to deal with ours that long.
I've read about glysophate being useful used as you suggest.
We grow organic vegetables and I am resisting using glysophate if at all possible.
18 years... wow.
Yes, I was reluctant to have to resort to the Glyphosate as well, but at 69 years old, I run out of steam a lot quicker than I used to, and you folks that have been digging this stuff up can attest that its hard work! (not to mention the darned roots can run a LONG distance) I have dug up roots 15 feet long!
I had a guy from ace hardware tell me to "drown it with water" but that only encourages it! Beleive me, the ONLY way to get any form of control over it is by using the concentrated Glyphosate as mentioned earlier....
Jerry
As a beginning gardener about 6 years ago, I bought some red runner bamboo, not having a clue to it's invasive nature! Yesterday, I cut down the whole small grove. It had grown under our driveway and heaved it up, in some cases growing through the cracks!!! This is a tough plant and I am glad to be rid of it. I am going to cover the whole area with an old pool cover, very heavy plastic, and hope that it's dead by next spring.
Advice: think very carefully before planting bamboo!!!!!!!
This message was edited Jun 18, 2012 10:59 AM
kudrick - I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but cutting down bamboo is equal to mowing your lawn - it isn't dead. There are places online that sell very heavy plastic, I think it has to be 60ml thick to smother running bamboo. Here's a link to the American Bamboo Society, you will have to search their site for info on control.
http://bamboo.org/index.php
It is a good thing that I live in the country on 5 acres - because I LOVE bamboo - and it does grow well here. Each spring it is almost like an Easter egg hunt to see where the new culms are going to emerge. In time, someone is bound to hate me for all this - but by then, I will be tending to the bamboo in Heaven. I did see a patch in someone's yard that went into the reproductive dying phase. It will be interesting to see what happens next. They stripped all the canes of the leaves, cut many of them down, but left quite a stand there that will be interesting to watch. I remember the horror that struck my heart when I read about world wide death of bamboo when a particular species reproduces - some in 100 year cycles. You have to save seeds and sow them. Now - if I am nuts or full of bad information - have at it!!!! I will strike back with my huge long black bamboo canes!!!!!
wannadanc - I'm hoping my bamboo is close to it's dying phase!
You can drown bamboo. Also blackberry but not thistle. All you need is water to stand at least 3" deep for about 2 months. That is what happened in my back yard this winter. A bit of the bamboo escaped, so I have some left. It's not that invasive here. It's taken 18 years to get maybe 250 sq ft. Less now. Makes good plant stakes. Pic taken before killing cold and flood.
Herman
salix_man - our bamboo is growing on a slope, so drowing it is not feasible. It also grows extremely fast - it has taken five years to cover a 50' x 50' area. I am hoping to reclaim this area so I can expand our vegetable garden.
Yes, it does make good plant stakes. We saved all the ones from the bamboo we cut to the ground this past spring.
A really big dam??? LOL
Put in a dam, fill it with water, drown the bamboo, and grow rice! LOL
Bulldozer.
I have cut it back to 4 feet deep into the soil, and now I have a cover on it and a deck above it, and I haven't seen it in 3 years...
My hubby has been digging running bamboo for several months. He's cleared a 24' x 24' area that is now planted with squash!
That's a good sized area.
Dean_W - that's only part of the area cleared. He's still working on the rest. Removing the running bamboo will be an ongoing problem because it grows in the woods behind our house!
Good luck to your Husband, Honeybee. I dug some up and planted it at my parent's land about 25 years ago now that stuff is everywhere. At least in two spots. I went out there a couple of years ago and cut a bunch down and burnt it, but it would definitely take more of an effort to get rid of it.
Dean - bamboo is a grass. Unfortunately cutting it down is like mowing regular grass, it just grows back.
Very true.
We have running bamboo -- a fairly short variety --- that escaped under a neighbor's fence into our yard, and has been an unending pain. I wish there were workable solution!
happy_macomb - There are solutions, but none of them are affordable.
The bamboo beyond our fence is now so dense that we cannot open our rear gate into the woods beyond. Every year is struggle to keep the darn stuff on our side of the fence under control.
I feel you pain ^_^
What are the nonaffordable solutions? We are considering putting a bamboo barrier between our house and our neighbors; some people say they work, others say they don't. But I have to do something.
The one most recommended is a 4ft stainless steel barrier set into the ground.
Another is to keep a deep open trench and cut off the rhizomes as they try to cross the trench. Problem with that one is keeping the trench open.
Yet another idea is to use very thick plastic as barrier. Personally, I don't think the plastic would last long enough.
Bamboo will not cross over water.
Here's a link - there are other links you might look for
http://bamboo.org/bamboo-info.php
Yes, I've looked at that link. I hear you about the plastic, although there is very thick plastic that is sold for this purpose. Stainless steel would certainly be prohibitive -- plus in my experience, a lot of "stainless" steel corrodes....
Bamboo lover here, and I feel badly for those of you having to deal with anothers irresponsible planting. Looking at pictures and hearing the stories,, it seems often the bamboo is planted at the property line, with no way to access the back side, thus the nightmare begins for the poor neighbor.
Then the bamboo is sometimes not properly controlled from the start, on any side. What a mess.
I have several varieties, and several groves. The one most complained about in forums like this are the timber bamboos. Yes, they run. But they are predictable and with regular maintenance are not a problem.
Let me tell you about my Phyllostachys vivax.
http://www.bamboogarden.com/Timber%20Bamboos.htm
I started with a rhizome with a couple nodes, freshly dug one fall. Planted immediately in a raised bed, where I wanted it to grow both to the north and to the south, with the purpose being to cool my older, uninsulated home from the hot afternoon western sun. It took awhile, but the house is now many degrees cooler in the summer. I have been tending this grove for just over thirty years now, and have not had problems controlling it.
The raised bed has wooden edges and is about 9 1/2 inches high. Bamboo roots may go deeper, but the rhizomes stay in the top 12 inches. So keeping a clear path around the outside and watching for potential escape is the main strategy. Bamboo follows water, so have directed the growth with my summer watering, when it is actively wanting to move. This is how I managed the shape of the grove to go north and south. I make a point of keeping the edges where I want to prevent escape, DRY. Made the mistake of leaving a couple large flower pots near and edge one year..you guessed it.. bamboo sneaking out.
I check all edges with my pulaski or shovel each fall, and sometimes I double check in the spring. If I find a sneaker attempting a break away. it's simple to whack the rhizome out. Bamboo needs a rhizome to send up shoots. Whacking that off, leaves some root waste behind but that dies without the plant to support it.
I do have several things outside of my garden I would rather not look at, and neighboring houses I would rather not have staring at me. My solution has been other groves, but never at the property line. They are well inside the garden. none closer any property line than about 15 feet. By selecting the bamboo variety, I can choose where I want the sight block, and sitting in my favorite places, judge where inside the garden, a grove will do that job.
If you are working with a narrower part of the yard, I strongly recommend you leave at least 2 1/2 or 3 feet behind the bamboo, so you can easily walk, and chop if needed. Though that seems terribly narrow. It needs to be roomy and comfortable. A pleasure to walk back behind and enjoy the beauty and the sound of the plant. If you find an escapee, the space you have left back there will encourage you to stay on top of things, and not let it become a problem. A barrier behind this bamboo situation seems wise, to help you redirect runners and hopefully either have them pop up, or run back towards home.
Locking a bamboo running or clumping, in a total surround barrier of any kind, will eventually result in the plant breaking free. Though it may suffer from the lack of space and nutrients before hand. A set up for pests to invade. Think of any plant imprisoned in a too small pot over time.
There are so many beautiful bamboo species, it's truly a shame irresponsible planters have created problems for so many of you. Plan ahead and be willing to take care of what you have planted. If your too busy and have many other responsibilities, pick another plant. These big bamboos are my pets and have been for many years. I water, mulch, feed, and thin regularly. In return these plants give me heat relief, provide visual blocks exactly where needed and are calming to my soul.
Edited because I found a photo from a couple years ago, right before a needed thinning. Easy to see which culms are older and needed to go. I also clean up any leaves below about how high I can easily reach each year. It looks better trimmed up IMHO, so this is not a great picture, but it gives you an idea.
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Thanks, citybusgardener, for the cautionary words about barriers. I just want to put a barrier at the fence line between my property and my neighbors so the bamboo doesn't come creeping in. What do you recommend for that?
I didn't take the time to read all the responses, so forgive me if my comment serves as a redundant one. You need a systemic herbacide. It is that simple. You need a poison the boo sucks up and then kills the entire rhizome. It's the roots, not the shoots, you have to kill. Although, if you map the rhizome, you can stop it with a rhizome barrier, then trench dig the bugger out. I say systemic herbacide. Thanks, Jon
Thanks, jon. I have read that even the systemics won't kill the roots of bamboo. I have (so far) been successful following the advice on a bamboo site (don't recall which one right now) to keep cutting back the shoots -- eventually the roots will die. We dug up all the roots we could, and for the past 2 months have been cutting back every shoot. Now there are very few new shoots. I expect to see some fresh activity in the spring, but I am pretty confident we have turned a corner.
An update of sorts. Connecticut has put the running bamboos on the invasives list and handing out tickets. Worse than Kudzu. Wish Texas would do that- neighbors gift is taking over a creek bottom area with huge old trees dying as it takes over...
You know, I bought a bunch of the small, "manageable" new varieties of Heavenly Bamboo, and then, kept reading, from different sorts, that "with maturity, can sucker" and that was enough for me!
Yep, ripped 'em right out.
And glad that I did!
Gracye - heavenly bamboo is actually a nandina. You were wise to rip it out because it is invasive as well as poisonous.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandina
So surprised to find Nandina is "persona non grata" in other parts of the US. Have had it as an ornamental for 30 plus years, and have no bad reports. It is polite, well mannered, and appreciated.
Several nandinas types, we r hot, its aggressive though NOT 25' tall...