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Q&A: Bamboo Taking Over
National Gardening Association
Question: My husband and I planted bamboo around our water garden.
Unfortunately, the label from the nursery didn't warn us that the
plant is very invasive. In the three years that we have had this
plant, it has grown beyond the pond, and is now spreading under our
deck. We buried a piece of fiberglass around the pond, but that hasn't
stopped it. I truly love this plant! It looks great around the pond,
but, we are afraid that this plant is getting out of hand. Can you
suggest any way to keep it under check?
Answer: A professional landscaper or landscape architect may be able obtain a professional-grade deep underground bamboo barrier to stop the plant from running. However, some varieties of bamboo seem to escape even those heavy-duty barriers. In some cases, allowing it a "patch" and mowing around it regularly will keep it within a given area. In other cases it can be grown in an above ground container and root pruned regularly. Additionally, if it is marginally hardy in your area then a hard winter might set it back from time to time. Unfortunately, some of the running bamboos are just plain invasive and are extremely difficult to control, let alone eradicate. Finally, you might consider using a slower-growing, better-mannered clumping bamboo instead.
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Posted Comments:
03-10-2009 17:12
Wendy Aycoth wrote:
Spreading bamboo
I too had this problem several years ago. I had it under my swimming pool, throughout the lawn, everywhere and it seemed that NOTHING would kill it. Then I read an article by the top bamboo expert in the country based in D.C. He said the ONLY thing to kill bamboo is BLEACH! Cut the stem just under a notch, fill the cane with bleach and leave it to absorb. Keep doing this for as long as it takes. You will see the bamboo dying or turning black.
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