Would you buy a house with bamboo in the backyard?

[Anonymous]

With bamboo in two neighbors’ yards, you’ve got to be prepared for a constant battle with it. If it was just your yard it would be easier to manage.

[Anonymous]

It’s great. We use ours to make clothes, diapers, rugs, utensils, furniture, etc,

[Anonymous]

I love it. My parents had some and it was fun cutting off some stalks and having fun karate fights with my kids. It is also pretty I think.

[Anonymous]

LOL!

Anonymous wrote:It’s great. We use ours to make clothes, diapers, rugs, utensils, furniture, etc,

[Anonymous]

Never again. Never. Absolute hard pass.

[Anonymous]

bought a house next door to a neighbor with bamboo. it has barely spread. landscaper cut some shoots near the fence earlier in the spring, and since then nothing. it's a very old bamboo patch though, apparently that limits the spread I've heard

[Anonymous]

Okay, I went and looked at the house again… there are these little bamboo shoots up all through the yard and mulch. They were easy to pick out, but there were a lot of them.

Also, in the mulch, and I could see a few “woody” shoots, that were clearly missed when they did the yard clean up. I could also seem some small holes in the yard (maybe where they scooped out some woody shoots in the yard?).

I’m guessing this is the bad kind.

Bummer! Because the house is really cute! But, maybe we’re dodging a disaster here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s great. We use ours to make clothes, diapers, rugs, utensils, furniture, etc,

No bamboo huts or rafts?

[Anonymous]

If it spreads to the lawn, not a big deal. Just keep mowing it, and it will die. It is a headache when it spreads into planting beds though.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it was definitely in the planting beds, growing up near pavers, etc… I could see how if you missed a week of mowing/weeding, it would be everywhere and very time consuming to stay on top of.

[Anonymous]

One possible downside is that it may indicate that the current homeowners have not maintained the house/yard properly.

[Anonymous]

Our house had bamboo in the backyard when we bought it. Similar situation, two adjoining yards also had it. We tore it all out when we moved in, but with it all in the neighbors’ yards, it does keep creeping back. There are underground barriers you can get to help block it, but we also have a bunch of huge mature trees and were worried that installing the barriers would damage their root systems.

So now we just consider it part of our annual maintenance. In the spring we weed, mulch, and pull bamboo. Again in the fall. As long as we do it twice a year it doesn’t get too out off of control, but I guess this depends on exact type.

Would i prefer a house without it? Sure. But it’s not so bad that I would pass on a house that I otherwise loved.

[Anonymous]

We have it and it's fine - must be the slow growing kind. We cut it back twice a year, but it's definitely not out of control. Maybe see if you can identify the variety? Ours look pretty and it's a great barrier between the neighbor's house.

[Anonymous]

“Constant battle”?

Do you guys say the same about Tall Fescue since you mist cut it every week?

Don’t be ridiculous. Bamboo is great privacy.

[Anonymous]

Our house had a big patch when we moved in. We cleared it out and now it is a distant memory and I forgot we had it once. It is a lot of work to get rid of and took a couple of years, but it can be done. I wouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good in this situation.