Running bamboo nightmare - advice please

[Delilah]

Our neighbour has been growing massive stands of bamboo for a decade or so. He's rebuilding, so recently ploughed down the entire site, including the bamboo. Great, but...

The bamboo, of course, is responding to this massive 'pruning' by sending rapid-fire growth in all directions, especially ours. We have runners extending 3 meters across our lawn. That's the easy part. The hard part is that it's coming up on the other side of concrete paths, in between concrete steps, all through the wooden retaining walls of deep flower beds, and under and into the shed.

Every time we pull out one tip or runner, it multiplies into four new ones. There are areas with dozens of fine shoots sprouting up through stone steps and other immovable features.

Oh, and it grows FAST.

In short, HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPP!!! What does one do to control running bamboo?

[imafan26]

A backhoe.

Really running bamboo would take some serious digging and a lot of weed killer every time it comes up

[applestar]

Is it the good eating kind? You could eat ones that are growing in chemical free areas?

Can you make use of the grown shoots in your garden? My SIL gets all her tomato and garden supports from a state park in her area where a bamboo stand is problem enough that they allow people to come and cut as much as they want.

[Delilah]

No, it's not good eating and we don't let the tips grow to the point of harvestable value.

I hate to use poisons, but is there a way to poison the main plant from the growing tips????

The runners are growing underneath a 1m (3ft) wide retained flower bed + a 1.5m wide concrete path. This can't be dug. And there are more growing through from the neighbour's place each day, so even if we were to re-landscape at the cost of $10K (not) there will still be new ones coming for a loooong time yet.

We need to kill the stuff .

[imafan26]

https://www.roundup.com/smg/goART2/conte ... o/27800029

[GardeningCook]

I hate to recommend strong herbicides, but feel in your case it's going to be necessary.

If your county has an Ag Extension office (most do), I'd start there & get their advice on how to proceed with the least amount of possible harm to you &/or your yard. Unfortunately, so long as your neighbor still has the bamboo sprouting in his yard, you will as well no matter what you do.

[Delilah]

Just thought I'd update....

The recommendation was the dreaded glyphosate. I tried it. Yes, I gave money to Monsanto . And I have been amazed...

...at how utterly ineffective it has been. I have leaf-sprayed thoroughly three times over 10 days, and the shoots look barely even slightly off-colour. For the shoots coming up between pavers I poured the glyphosate quite generously. It has not inhibited new ones. They are popping up merrily in the exact same spots, through the glyphosate-soaked soil.

Good old white vinegar is much faster and more effective for pavers, not to mention way cheaper and safer. I had just hoped that the marketed systemic nature of glyphosate would take the poison back to base. But there's no sign. It can't even down a fresh shoot.

So Roundup really does not touch running bamboo, even though it says on the bottle that it does.

(How it apparently kills trees accidentally, I don't know. I can't get it to kill anything on purpose.)

[applestar]

I have heard that if you cut the offending shrub/tree/(in this case) bamboo and PAINT the surface of the exposed veins in the cut with it, the plant will suck the substance in and absorb it, thereby more effectively treating it than leaf surface application (probably especially in the case of slick surfaced water repellant plant like bamboo). With bamboo, perhaps you could cut just below a segment and fill the hollow cup.

[Jaiaceae]

Yikes I feel for you , once bamboo is in the ground you pretty much have to live with it. Yes its invasive and pulling it out won't kill it , glyphosphate is too weak. You need a stronger herbicide that is designed for bamboo. I'm not familiar with chemicals in your country but try researching names like " Triclops 360" . One word of caution if you decide to poison bamboo on your side of the property it will affect your neighbors as the poison goes through the plants system. ( thats the idea isn't it? )