Would you buy a house with bamboo in the backyard?

[Anonymous]

i don't know anything about this topic- why wouldn't bamboo be good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i don't know anything about this topic- why wouldn't bamboo be good?

Grows crazy fast and everywhere, hard to get rid of kind of like Kudzu.

[Anonymous]

We had it in our first house. I loved it. So pretty. It didn’t spread because it was shady in that area.

[Anonymous]

^^ we lived there for 15 years. Nice privacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't know anything about this topic- why wouldn't bamboo be good?

Grows crazy fast and everywhere, hard to get rid of kind of like Kudzu.

Definitely not all bamboo though. I have planted fargesia bamboo before, and it remains an extremely well behaved clump. It sounds like OP is dealing with phyllostachys bamboo or one of the other larger stemmed running types.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have bamboo and it’s honestly a beautiful feature in our backyard. Great privacy too.

This. It gives us complete privacy. We didn't put it in, and it's not what I would have chosen, but it hasn't been that bad. We do need to trim it back periodically, but it's been fine.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Deal breaker for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope nope nope nope nope. Even bamboo 2-3 houses away would make me think twice.

You know that a neighbor can put it in, after you've already purchased your house, right?

We have some in our yard and we don't mind it. If it gets a little too much, we have someone come cut it back. I wouldn't plant bamboo but I also wouldn't avoid a house with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

What is the disaster that you are dodging? Like, what's the worst case scenario here?

[Anonymous]

I’d avoid. It’s one of those things that frequently gives prospective home buyers pause - like living on a busy road or lead service lines.

[Anonymous]

There is clumping bamboo that doesn’t spread, and there is the spreading kind. We have the spreading kind. We spent thousands clearing it out, and now I monitor the area like a hawk pulling out any new shoots before they have a chance to grow too much. There is a chemical called Casaron that we spread on the dirt after pulling everything out. That has also helped inhibit new growth.

I will never buy another house with bamboo again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would be a stupid reason not to buy a house that otherwise checks the boxes you need.

+1

Beautiful privacy screen - would never rule it out, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d avoid. It’s one of those things that frequently gives prospective home buyers pause - like living on a busy road or lead service lines.

Not at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

What is the disaster that you are dodging? Like, what's the worst case scenario here?

Roots push against the foundation and cause damage. Tens of thousands potentially to fix.

[Anonymous]

Yes, provided that the bamboo was far enough from the house/foundation and wasn't damaging the structure.

While it takes time and patience, running bamboo can be removed more cheaply than some people on this thread think. We had running bamboo along the back perimeter of the yard when we bought our house. I cut down all of the existing stalks myself and paid a landscaping company $600 to haul the existing stalks away and dig out the roots. They didn't get everything, but they got enough. I spent the subsequent four years mowing over or pulling out little emergency shoots from the dying plant. I've been fully bamboo-free for 2 years.