Tips for digging out this bamboo?

glasgowdan

I try and avoid this task in my line of work, but our new house has some batches of established bamboo and I really want to rid the soil of it completely. Question is, has anyone got any tips to make it bearable? I spent 2hrs hacking at it with my mattock, which frustratingly frequently just bounced back off roots and stones. I took the grinder to the mattock and honed it into a lethal weapon but it was still murder.

I'm trying to save the poor apple tree on the right so can't nuke it all.

Any thoughts?

I_have_spoken

Stump grinder?

peter_the_piper

The only thing I can think of is to cut to ground level and roundup each shoot when its an inch or two high. It won't be a quick job.
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glasgowdan

I'm hoping to plant some small shrubs or ground cover though. I think elbow grease is the only way here, I'll attack a bit at a time cheers

TheGardener

TBH - I don't think you will get rid of it all AND save the apple - the roots will be too knit together. I would wait until the apple is dormant - dig it up and thoroughly wash the roots to make sure every bit of bamboo is out of there and then let rip on the bamboo.

Davesnave

I agree with peter's suggestion.

Had to do similar with a miscanthus, given to us by mother -in- law. Even imagining it was mother in law didn't help when I was belting it with every tool imaginable!

Left it at least a year after it officially died, and then it rotted enough for a pick to be used.

peter_the_piper

We had a similar problem with a pampas grass in the front lawn. It was so big it cut out the light in in the front window. A few hours with a pick axe loosened it only. Weed killer worked, however the root ball was so big we created a pond where it was.

paddy's_mum

We had a landscape gardener dig some fine leaved bamboo out of the garden last year. He used something similar to the Spear and Jackson Rootbreaker.

It has a chisel edge to cut down through the fibrous rootball but a long and heavy handle to shove underneath the cut part and lever it out.

It still took him, a fit, healthy and skilled young man the best part of a morning to get out a clump about the area of a small bathroom floor so perhaps perseverance is also a big part of success.

Good luck and treat yourself to a good pair of leather workgloves first!

glasgowdan

Ok, the apple tree's going to go. So if there's a way to get the ground plantable again...without bursting a spleen?

Justagardener

I agree with the stump grinder. The hire is around £75 it will be done and dusted in no time and the machines are easier to use than you would expect. I would expect the apple tree roots to be either under the bamboo or to have diverted themselves past the clump so only go as deep as is necessary. When digging out plants like bamboo it can help to dig a deep section of soft soil away near the roots first, then nibble away at the roots, chipping away towards the soft soil dug hole. If any shoots reappear use a professional strength weed killer like gallop 360, you can buy it on amazon and read about it in the weed section of the perfectgarden.co.uk this will not harm the soil so you can replant straight away. Garden centre Roundup is unfortunately not strong enough

glasgowdan

Thanks. I'm a commercial ground maintenance contractor so no issues with access to glyohosate and so on. My local place hires stump grinders for 65 so I'll get as many of the clumps prepared as I can and munch them down in one go. I'd never have thought of using one on my own! I always avoid these types of clearance jobs, too much like hard work!