Wish I could "nuke it from orbit, just to be sure"
 

One word - BAMBOO.

I took a few swings at it with a pick axe. It felt like I was sledge hammering iron. It was one instance I felt I happier with more money than tine/energy. I called a pro. They are using a jack hammer!!! Kicking butt. They cut the culms first and now are digging down to take out roots. He said I'll probably have two spring seasons chasing down left overs. He said dig them up or cut them and pour stump killer into the stalks. I can handle it. I need to dig a trench and put a barrier in to keep it from back tracking back onto my property. Who plants this chit?!!! It's like Pandora's box. Or releasing a plant Kraken. This stuff sucks. I bet there is equal debris underground as there is growing up.

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Sent via Jedi mind trick.

I love Bamboo and plant it routinely on my projects.

But if you plant the wrong variety......and/or plant it in the wrong place...then you're not going to be happy....

It was an old hedge. Hedge bamboo. For the most part, it behaved. But the PO was ripped off by her gardener. He said he was clearing the runners. He wasn't. It got away. You don't let running bamboo escape long. Ever.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

I had the same issue in a house I owned years ago. Full on dig out and bomb fire (when it was still legal to do so)
5 years after removing it there were still new shoots every spring. Sold the house and that was it... lol

That looks like Buddha Belly - which is not a runner.

Even clumping can get too large as it expands....

I'd love for you to be correct. But I just chased and pulled out about 30 feet of runners. I hate this stuff. I'll Chem fight it soon.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

Any secret tips for removal?


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

I wanted to do that to a neighbor, but my wife stopped me. Barrier on our side, then plant.

I'm surprised landscaper isn't using a backhoe to dig it out.

Run over it with a lawn mower or hack the new shoots when they appear. Eventually, it'll get bored.

As Dad mentions below......a backhoe or loader would be ideal, as long as you could access the area. I have a friend with a small track loader who removed some for me and it worked out fine and his machine is very small - but a good operator would know how to get the most out of his equipment.

Not to take the post off topic but Baz is there types of bamboo that can be grown and controlled ? I have a pesky neighbor that I would love to hide/barricade with a natural fence. Please PM me as I don't want to run this posters topic off course. Thanks

I think this info would be helpful to many here so I'll post it in the thread.

The variety that I have found to be the best for providing privacy, screening, and attractive foliage plus not take up a lot of space nor invade is called Bambusa textilis 'Gracilis'.

Common name is Graceful or Slender Weaver(s) Bamboo.

You can Google it for more information.

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Here's some I used on a job with date stamps so you can see how well it grows. I use drip tubing instead of spray heads if possible and keep them very wet the first month or so right after planting. Once they get new roots they aren't as sensitive to wilting.

Note the distance I planted away from the fence...and even after a couple years...there is still a respectable amount of space left to provide access for maintenance of fence and bamboo.

Those are 7 gallon size plants I started with which are much more economical then larger sizes, especially when you end up planting 10 or more plants - it all adds up. With proper care, you don't have to start off with large plants to get results, as you can see.

Once in a while I have an "impatient" client who wants instant gratification. (you know the type :rolleyes:) But usually I can talk them into going to economical route...

I planted on both sides of this backyard but am only showing the left side in the pics - but both sides turned out amazing....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1470592292.jpg

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Another pic....2 years after planting.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1470593169.jpg

You serious? Don't do it. I'm sure my nerves are still raw but I think it's pure insanity.

My bamboo guy said even a barrier needs maintenance. Two feet deep plastic barrier. Maybe back filled with small rocks. He said running bamboo makes the best barrier. But it's the kraken.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

Bamboo is the fire ant of the plant world.

We have two chunks of bamboo to improve privacy in the yard. Both barriered with plastic 1 meter down in the ground and both of a type that should not "run away".

It's just grass ..... ;)

So would it be fair to say that she was........ Wait for it......... Bamboozled?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1470698782.jpg

One of the classes I took was on plants and the instructor said, sort of as a joke, if you have a neighbor you don't like and are moving in a couple years, plant bamboo on his PL. If you aren't moving just buy some roosters.

Ran by the project I referenced above and took a few pics.

In over 2 years the footprint remains very compact - no encroachment at all.

I did not install any underground barrier. No need to with this variety.

If you are having trouble with Bamboo - you're doing it wrong.


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Beautiful! :)

BAZ.

i have spent a lot of time talking to bamboo experts. i'm damn near stalking them. i even helped on bamboo gardener trim underground shoots on bamboo that looks just like what you planted. the clumping type. i admit the runners are short and much slower, but they were there. the guy had a cool heavy digging bar with a wide spade tip. you just go around the plant plunging it into the earth.

he said the problem with bamboo is that 99% of the people planting it wont maintain it. he said clumping will get away from you if allowed. he pointed me to a house down the street where that happened. it was obviously clumping bamboo, but it grew out into a big wide circle of hell. i think 15 years from now..that home owner will curse that plant..

me? i think i got mine. every day after work i would scan my yard. any shoot, i dig down and remove the clump. for once in my life, my OCD is working in my favor. i will wait until a couple of spring seasons have passed and then i will build some veggie beds.

i even talked the city into attacking the escaped rhizomes on their side of our fence. it's war. i plan on helping them as well. i just need to get someone to weld a spade tip to a digging bar.

Hey... he may be on to something... plant mary jane as a barrier!

Stoopid PO of our house planted bamboo... right over where our sewer pipe exits the house adn goes to my septic drain field.

Took 3 years of clip-n-spray to finally get rid of it all... Still have some black bamboo along a fence line, but it stays pretty "clumpy" and it is easy to control runners by just mowing them down when they start popping up.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/bamboo.htm

update time!

almost there. being totally OCD helped. big time. daily field grid searches and prompt work with a shovel and digging bar is kicking some ass. i am now on my third shovel..there is a limit to a wooden shovel handle. :)..anyways, the digging bar is saving the shovel, and i even bent the bar on one big rootball.

my shoulders are spent. i am in physical therapy to fix it, but the damn bamboo's days are numbered. here is the last chunk i found..i'll know more when it warms up in the spring. i expect more, but i'm digging it up.

i stand by my thoughts..anyone that plants the stuff is not thinking straight..even clumping bamboo will explode. that stuff BAZ showed, if you look carefully, the circumference of the shoots damn near doubled in the two years. no inexpensive root barrier insurance was not a good idea, in my opinion. it might be 12-15 years from now, but someone will be cursing. i hate the chit..i might get a tattoo on my arm to commemorate the battle royale i had. i did notice as the rhizomes exhaust energy storage, the shoots that pop up are tiny!!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1484927772.JPG

The definition of a weed is any plant that exists......where you don't want it.

The problem is not the Bamboo - but the humans who plant it where it shouldn't be planted.

And/or use the wrong variety.

Or both - wrong place AND wrong variety.

Cliff, years from now, men will be telling stories around the campfire about your heroic exploits. Women will sing songs about your bravery. Children will beg their parents to buy them vash action toys.

great point..i agree.

Nothing like the sound in a mature stand of bamboo in the wind. Clack clack.

Vash you may be onto something with your campaign bamboo tattoo!

Cheers Richard

Tattoos are for sissies. Get it branded. ;)

Secret to a good marriage right there.

Haha, about 20 years ago I planted some bamboo and was very pleased the way it took :rolleyes: These days neighbours are talking about how the stuff is growing up inside walls of their houses and how they can't get rid of it. LOL I don't mention it was me who brought it into the area.

the last chunk i found..

i am planning for a pro landscaper to come in and turn my backyard into a outdoor hanging out spot..sonoma wine country style!! i need this chit gone!!! hate to have a sprout pop up out of my firepit..heheh.

this piece illustrates the superpower of bamboo..it is size of a golfball and it was kickinass, till i came along with a shovel. well. i KNOW there is more under that slab the cat is sitting on..that slab comes out and i'll clear under it then. for now, no sun, no problem.

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College frat at Union does branding...:eek:

Does Roundup work on bamboo?

It does when you cut the bamboo at an angle and spray the exposed ends but it takes a few applications.

Lots of frats do it. 99% of the time, when I see it, it's usually a frat that was primarily African-American members.

Glad to hear that you got it taken care of. Congrats on winning the war!

i concur. it works, but you do have to clip and spray immediately. it is a PIA.

the city used Tordon on their side of the property line. i think. it was green and i know Tordon is green (so you know where you already applied it) and it was super effective. i had very little to dig on that side. ;)