I just bought a house that has out of control Bamboo-any suggestions?

Rob Salter
by Rob Salter
i was hoping to straighten out the lines and clean up around the trees they surround. I would like to make a park like area for my grand kids.
After cutting the poles they leave a dangerous stump that is just as difficult to dig out.
They cover half the back yard approx 70’ x 30’ they are so dense some 30’ or more they block out the sun, any suggestion would be appreciated.
  4 answers
  • William William on May 23, 2018

    Bamboo spreads by underground shoots. All you can do is to dig out and cut down the bamboo the best you can. Dig a deep trench around the bamboo to prevent it from setting new shoots. Use a vegetation killer in the trench and on the dug out/cut bamboo. It will take time and effort to kill the bamboo.

  • Janice Cooper Janice Cooper on May 23, 2018

    Cut down then multiple applications of Roundup Brush Killer over multiple seasons. And I was dealing with a fairly new invasion from my neighbor's yard.


    Broke the handle of a pick axe digging out the runners. You have quite a battle before you, my friend, but it can be won. Just don't turn your back.

  • Chubby58 Chubby58 on May 23, 2018

    Rob, sorry to hear about your bamboo, we had about 100'L x 30'W area of bamboo. It was full of tics, and starlings started to nest in there every evening, the bird poo was everywhere and so strong you couldn't even go outside, it was all on the deck and roof and driveway and cars. Bamboo is a nightmare. We started cutting it down piece by piece and cutting it up and hauling it away. With that much bamboo it gets old really fast, so we paid someone to come in and cut it down, unfortunately they left 12-18" stubs because they had to use a chain saw when there wood chipper broke due to the toughness of the bamboo, so they hauled it away in dump trucks. It took them about 3 days. Once they left, we used a reciprocating saw and sawed it to the ground. We worked on this forever. After that we ordered some 20% acidic vinegar (not the stuff you would want to cook or eat with), and some rock salt and spread it all over the area to take care of the little shoots that kept coming up like every day. Finally once we felt we had it to a good point where it might not come back full force, we hired someone who had a huge machine that dug about 13" into the ground to get all the roots up. After that we had to rake it really well to get all the buried torn up stuff out and smooth the area out. It took us 3 years of working on that to finally get rid of that hated bamboo, but now we are "Bamboo Free". Every once in a while we see a small little shoot come up and it gets dug up really quick. Our neighbors still have some in there yard, so we do keep a close eye on those little tiny pieces, but no more tics, no more birds!!! It is a daunting task that seems to take forever, but so glad we no longer have it. Good luck to you in getting rid of yours.

  • Anne Wingate Anne Wingate on May 24, 2018

    We hung a Navajo rug over ours.