Garden ruined by neighbour's plant

moneybunny123

We moved into our home just over two years ago and during the first Summer we noticed shoots from our neighbour's bamboo tree poking up regularly and randomly all over our front garden. We pointed this out to them but they did nothing about it (then). (Our neighbour's house was the former show home and as such had a landscaped garden including the planting of shrubs, trees, etc - the bamboo being one of them).

Gradually over the last two years, the shoots have caused a fair bit of damage. They've burst through our garden path causing it to bulge in places and some of the slabs and pointing have cracked, the lawn constantly has shoots poking through which can grow a couple of feet high in just a week, and any shrubs that we've planted in our garden struggle to grow because their roots are being choked by the roots of the bamboo, meaning everything just dies.

Finally, recently, our neighbour has pulled out the massive bamboo tree (after shoots started to poke through their own lawn and path) but sadly the roots (which stretch over 10 metres away from where the tree was planted) still appear to be alive as shoots are still continuing to burst through our garden. We've tried to pull the roots out (which has caused further damage) but without ripping up the entire front garden (i.e. the whole lawn and path) we have no idea if we've got rid of it all or if the roots have reached the house and if any damage has been caused there.

We contacted NHBC (as the house is only 9 years old) but they said that it doesn't come under their jurisdiction, but suggested that if we wanted to pursue the matter, we seek legal advice. We don't want to fall out with our neighbours and haven't asked them to foot any bill, despite the fact that we will undoubtedly have to have the entire front garden re-paved and re-turfed.

Has anyone any idea if (a) we may be able to claim off house insurance or (b) if there's any point in seeking legal advice. Or will we, unfortunately, have to put up with a front garden that literally looks like a building site until we've saved up a heck of a lot of money?

PheoUK

If your home insurance has free legal advice you might be able to check with them?

moneyistooshorttomention

Wouldn't the builders be the ones that would be liable (rather than the neighbours themselves), as they were the ones who planted the bamboo and I would say that it's been known bamboo can be invasive for rather longer than 9 years? Errrm....something along lines of "duty of care" to neighbouring houses and "reasonably foreseeable damage"?

My other thought is the sole exception I make to my organic gardening and refusal to use weedkillers and that is when it boils down to a "kill or be killed" type situation (ie Japanese Knotweed, bamboo, leylandii trees) and then I would use the "heavy guns" and "belt the relevant plant" with something very heavy-duty to kill it off (ie perhaps you could try injecting some of that blimmin' Round Up stuff into the roots of the bamboo) just as a one-off and then resume "life as normal" (ie no weedkillers) once that had died?

moneybunny123

We contacted the builders (or rather, the company that bought the original building company) and they told us that they only accept liability for properties completed on or after 1st September 2005. Our house was originally completed in January of 2005. Convenient for them or what?!

moneyistooshorttomention

Now I wouldn't take that as the end of it in your position.

Builders liability usually applies for 10 years (I believe) and is usually deemed to mean for faulty workmanship of the house.

I would be inclined to think that the person who "blocked me" on that at the builders' office was referring to that and that alone and hoping you would "go away and leave them alone".

I'd consult some legal opinion in your position about the very different liability front I am referring to and see what they had to say, as that's a totally different kettle of fish to "Did they build my own house so badly that its in need of building work to put it right?" which is what the normal NHBC Guarantee refers to. That isn't the heading under which my enquiry to them would have come at all.

Do check and see if they've come up with a red herring for you and are hoping to put you off the scent.

Davesnave

moneybunny123 wrote: »

Has anyone any idea if (a) we may be able to claim off house insurance or (b) if there's any point in seeking legal advice. Or will we, unfortunately, have to put up with a front garden that literally looks like a building site until we've saved up a heck of a lot of money?

I doubt if the house insurance would pay out on this, or that legal advice will do anything other than divert money from the job in hand, which is to sort out your garden.

The NHBC won't want to know, but you've discovered that already; they are only interested in defects in the main fabric of the house

Regardless of the ins and outs of what's gone before, the job of killing what's left of the bamboo is the immediate one, followed by re-seeding the lawn before the weather makes that impossible.

The slabs are something I'd tackle next year, when you are sure you've eradicated the bamboo. Whether you get someone else to do that depends on your circumstances, but it isn't a terribly skilled job. I can do it, so it can't be!

Here's one link to the job of eradicating bamboo. I'm sure there are loads of others.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=210

Basically, the builders chose an invasive type to get quick impact cheaply, and they didn't give a monkey's what happened later on. They never do.

tinwhiskers

Davesnave wrote: »

Regardless of the ins and outs of what's gone before, the job of killing what's left of the bamboo is the immediate one, followed by re-seeding the lawn before the weather makes that impossible.

The slabs are something I'd tackle next year, when you are sure you've eradicated the bamboo. Whether you get someone else to do that depends on your circumstances, but it isn't a terribly skilled job. I can do it, so it can't be!

Here's one link to the job of eradicating bamboo. I'm sure there are loads of others.

Dave's right with this - you shouldn't leave it any longer before you start digging up the roots.

I have the same problem with my neighbour's bamboo. Luckily I spotted it before it took over my garden - it was just starting to poke up through the lawn. I have had to dig up all the plants in the bed that adjoins his garden then pull up all the bamboo roots (which extended all the way back to the main plant). You need to be thorough in finding all the roots, but this isn't particularly hard as they run quite close to the surface. It can be perversely satisfying to rip it all up out of the ground! Once I had found all the roots and pulled them up all the way back to the main plant, I cut them off. You need to try to keep all the little nibs and bits that come off the roots and throw them away, as if a rhizome is left in the ground it can just start growing again.

Then I dug a trench along the fence and put down some bamboo root barrier at an angle away from the fence like this:

|
|__/
|../
|./

The horizontal line is the top of the soil, the vertical bit on the left is the fence, and the bit at an angle on the right is my bamboo barrier. You have to dig quite deep - mine isn't as deep as it should be. However bamboo doesn't tend to go very deep. My barrier starts several inches below where the bamboo comes under the fence and pokes out above ground. Having it angled up and away from where the bamboo is growing encourages the bamboo to hit it and then go upwards and over the barrier, rather than go down to try and go under it.

You should use barrier that is specifically for bamboo, and not just any old root barrier, because as you've seen, bamboo is insane and can go through basically anything.

The bamboo still tries to come up in the section between the barrier and the fence and I haven't yet worked out what to do to stop this. I installed the barrier last November and it has done a good job, but over the summer the bamboo has got a bit more bold, and I find one or two new spears creeping up by the fence every week or so. I patrol my perimeter regularly, swearing under my breath like a weirdo when I find a new poky green bit.

I'm planning on getting someone in to help me with it eventually, but my solution has worked well so far to stop things getting worse. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. I really hate bamboo now

cyclonebri1

The earliest posts advice is poor, you don't have a claim with the neighbour or builders, but;
You do have an issue. You need to treat every single stem that appears with a concentrated glyphosate weed killer.

Buy Rosate 36 from ebay, it's semi gel and about 6 x more concentrated than the garden center stuff.

Wear rubber gloves and smear the gel along every bit of greenery. It will be taken back to the roots and will destroy them. Needs a few days dry weather so do soon.

Ben84

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

You need to treat every single stem that appears with a concentrated glyphosate weed killer.

I've found that concentrated can work less effectively on plants which rely on extensive root systems. It's supposed to be absorbed down in to the plant to kill the roots, but mix it too strong and it just kills the first bit it touches and the roots keep on thriving. It's little better than just clipping off the top bits. Mixing it weaker has worked far better for me when dealing with things like bamboo, although you do need to wait longer for results, it tends to be more effective in the end.

It's also possible to find that the amount you can brush or spray (I prefer brushing on for controlling where it goes) on to the plant isn't really enough when there's so many roots. Gathering together a clump of the bamboo, cutting the ends, then bending it over in to a secured, covered container of the glyphosate solution and letting it soak up plenty has worked well for me with this kind of plant before.

cyclonebri1

Ben84 wrote: »

I've found that concentrated can work less effectively on plants which rely on extensive root systems. It's supposed to be absorbed down in to the plant to kill the roots, but mix it too strong and it just kills the first bit it touches and the roots keep on thriving. It's little better than just clipping off the top bits. Mixing it weaker has worked far better for me when dealing with things like bamboo, although you do need to wait longer for results, it tends to be more effective in the end.

It's also possible to find that the amount you can brush or spray (I prefer brushing on for controlling where it goes) on to the plant isn't really enough when there's so many roots. Gathering together a clump of the bamboo, cutting the ends, then bending it over in to a secured, covered container of the glyphosate solution and letting it soak up plenty has worked well for me with this kind of plant before.

I understand what you are saying but what I advised has worked for me on my own bamboo, "that got away" amongst shrubbery, but a single application when the shoots I didn't get came up did the biz. You need to allow enough top growth though for any Glyphosate treatment.

Guess there's more than 1 way to skin a bamboo:D

Furts

moneybunny123 wrote: »

Has anyone any idea if (a) we may be able to claim off house insurance or (b) if there's any point in seeking legal advice. Or will we, unfortunately, have to put up with a front garden that literally looks like a building site until we've saved up a heck of a lot of money?

You may have Japanese Knotweed growing in your garden. (I am aware of show homes that have been planted with this. Consequently, have you identified the precise type of bamboo?).

If you have Japanese Knotweed, and you notify your insurers of this, you may end up with a huge increase in your insurance premium, your house blighted, and problems should you wish to sell.

I suggest you proceed with great caution. You have said that you do not wish to fall out with your neighbours. Hence, there is no point in following litigation.

It is likely that you may end up sorting this at your expense, but if it is Japanese Knotweed, it could take years before you know it is eradicated. Plus, if you get the professionals in, this will be costly.