"Foreign" bamboo in garden

sarahTT

I am posting this with a view to aid a next-door neighbour, an elderly lady, whom every now and then I (or hubby) help with some garden chore. But quite possibly it will become important for us as well.

The other day said lady called me in a state of some alarm as she had discovered a few "strange plants" in her garden. I had a look and indeed, there were a few bamboo shoots growing out of her lawn, about two inches high. Now her next-door neighbour does indeed have a line of bamboo planted along their side of the border fence, so after checking this with Google, I think these have grown as roots from their garden into hers, bamboo being an invasive plant. (The fence is about 2-3 yards from the new shoots and according to my neighbour, the bamboo is there since about four or five years.)

That is in itself bad enough but I have also seen that these growths can damage houses or other outbuildings and that those roots can grow to ten, twenty yards or even more (that's where I or rather my own property might come in as my nearest border fence is around 15 yards from their fence).

So... has anyone experienced something like this before or otherwise has an idea what should be the best course of action here, both in a practical sense and, if that should really become necessary, in a legal sense? We have no problems with the bamboo as such but it seems just plain wrong that their plants can start to grow in my neighbour's garden and possibly other gardens as well (and more importantly, could in the long run even damage our properties)!?

Grenage

This is just life, and the dangers of home-destroying Bamboo etc are hyped.

It's a pain to dig such things out, and without root barriers it would just come back.  I would likely let it grow a little and then use glyphosate.

It probably wouldn't kill the entire bamboo. Probably.

MarvinDay

Grenage said:

This is just life, and the dangers of home-destroying Bamboo etc are hyped.

It's rare but it does happen:
https://propertyindustryeye.com/plant-grown-by-neighbour-caused-100k-of-damage-as-it-spread-under-property/

I've got bamboo in my garden (also coming from a neighbours garden) and so far it's had a couple of good soakings with glyphosate weedkiller which has killed most of it but a couple of shoots still pop up every few months.
Give it a couple of months until the bamboo is bigger with plenty of foliage then spray it with a good amount of weedkiller making sure that you either cover up or keep well away from any plants you don't want to die.

It might also be worth speaking to the neighbour where the bamboo originated from and suggesting to them that they think about eradicating it before it spreads too far in their garden.

FreeBear

Grenage said:  It's a pain to dig such things out, and without root barriers it would just come back.  I would likely let it grow a little and then use glyphosate.

It probably wouldn't kill the entire bamboo. Probably.

The leaves of bamboo are pretty good at shedding water. I was told that mixing a drop or two of washing up liquid helps to get the weedkiller to stick. I've not had any joy in killing the stuff short of digging it out.

If the bamboo is running (which it sounds like it is), dig out the running rhizomes all the way from clump to end. It should be fairly shallow rooted and is easy enough to do before it gets settled in. Then grab a roll of this - https://www.screwfix.com/p/capital-valley-plastics-ltd-damp-proof-course-black-30m-x-300mm/94278 - Dig a 300mm deep slot along the fence line, and insert the DPC vertically. That should stop the bamboo from sending out shoot sideways into the lawn.

Bendy_House

Is it the case that bamboo will not grow any taller if it's cut - it stops at that height?

In which case, mow the lawn

Ok, no idea if that'll do the trick, so also worth having a word with the bamboo owner, as this is clearly not a clumping variety...

FreeBear

Bendy_House said: Is it the case that bamboo will not grow any taller if it's cut - it stops at that height?

Yup, once cut, that particular stem will not grow any taller. But.... It encourages the stuff to run, even the clumping varieties as I found out to my cost... Pruned a clump back, and found it shooting up 5-8m away the following spring.

sarahTT

Thanks to all for the responses... as I see it there are two different trouble spots. The easier one is dealing with the immediate bamboo shoots in our neighbour's garden (and any others that might show up, either in hers or ours). I had already read a little about that glyphosate thing and it seems this may be job for my OH if our neighbour lady wants to go down that route. I think putting in a barrier would probably be something for a professional and I'm not sure she would be prepared to do that.

I take it that using glyphosate to remove those shoots strictly in our neighbour's (or perhaps our own) garden won't have legal ramifications?

The other, more important problem is the possible long-term damage to buildings. @Grenage said that "This is just life, and the dangers of home-destroying Bamboo etc are hyped." and for all I know, this may very well be the case. OTOH I had already seen pics of that house mentioned by @MarvinDay and these looked pretty terrifying to me (actually the pics and reports I read about that property were the trigger to start this thread). And even if we don't look at 100k but only 10k... it would be a killer and the thought alone is enough to give me nightmares.

So I'd really like to get an idea as to whether this is a real possibility and what we can do to mitigate or avoid it.

As to clumping v running, this seems also not very clear-cut either. Some say clumping will eventually pop up in other areas though not as fast and far away as running. Perhaps we should have a word with the owner as to what he has actually planted and whether he realises that his own property could be at risk.

Again thanks for looking into this, appreciated!

theoretica

sarahTT said:

 Perhaps we should have a word with the owner as to what he has actually planted and whether he realises that his own property could be at risk.

That would be my thought - but being careful not to start out making him feel accused.  There are these shoots and can he provide more information about what variety of bamboo it is as you are sure he didn't want to cause concern, but you have seen these news reports...

I don't suppose there is a convenient annual border on her side of the fence which would be easy to dig out and get to roots coming through?

 

FreeBear

sarahTT said: I think putting in a barrier would probably be something for a professional and I'm not sure she would be prepared to do that.

 OTOH I had already seen pics of that house mentioned by @MarvinDay and these looked pretty terrifying to me (actually the pics and reports I read about that property were the trigger to start this thread).

Installing a barrier is quite simple. Just sick a spade in the soil full depth, wiggle it back & forth a little, pull the spade out, and do the same again next to it. You end up with a narrow slit wide enough for a strip of DPC that I linked to earlier to be dropped in. No need to call in a professional if you can wield a spade yourself.

As for damaging buildings, as long as the foundations & footings are in good condition, bamboo will not be able to penetrate the walls. Maybe if you have some poor quality mortar that is breaking up 100mm or so below the surface, you might have a problem. Remember, bamboo is shallow rooting, and will take the easiest route when running.

sarahTT

theoretica said:

I don't suppose there is a convenient annual border on her side of the fence which would be easy to dig out and get to roots coming through?
 

It's lawn all the way on her side of the fence. I doubt that she would have discovered those shoots as early as she did if they had come out within an array of other plants :-/ And in the meantime, they have doubled in size and number :-( so perhaps she will have to look into that barrier thing. One problem there is that (for her property as well as ours as the layout is identical) a part of the foundation ends next to the border fence so I think it'll be hard to put in a full-length barrier on her side.

I am still not clear as to whether using a weed killer on those shoots showing in her (or our) garden is legal?

FreeBear

sarahTT said: I am still not clear as to whether using a weed killer on those shoots showing in her (or our) garden is legal?

Perfectly legal to apply weedkiller to plants growing in your garden. If the weedkilller gets drawn back in to the main clump the other side of the fence (unlikely), it won't be enough to kill all of it.