Anonymous wrote:We've had bamboo for years. It has not budged one iota of an inch. We enjoy it. In fact, the prior owners enjoyed it for about 18 years, also.

Not every kind spreads. Most types look alike, but there are a gazillion types, OP. So many people claim to be specialists, which is just crazy. Observe it yourself and if it does not spread, you have proven it with your own eyes. If it has, find someone who will remove it in a non toxic manner. After all, do you want the toxins in your own drinking water, soil, etc.? How much sense does that make? Using poison to kill a non toxic plant?

Its like using a nuclear bomb to kill an ant.

But OP is considering buying a house and has no way of knowing what "kind" of bamboo it is and doesn't want to discover AFTER buying the house that, yep, it's the kind that's impossible to get rid of.

Some people like to have an open yard or even a garden. As so many PPs point out, bamboo is hard to get rid of and requires a lot of ongoing effort even when you get it under control.

It's great that you like yours. But if someone doesn't like bamboo, it's hard to get rid of. That's the issue.

We've had bamboo for years. It has not budged one iota of an inch. We enjoy it. In fact, the prior owners enjoyed it for about 18 years, also.

Not every kind spreads. Most types look alike, but there are a gazillion types, OP. So many people claim to be specialists, which is just crazy. Observe it yourself and if it does not spread, you have proven it with your own eyes. If it has, find someone who will remove it in a non toxic manner. After all, do you want the toxins in your own drinking water, soil, etc.? How much sense does that make? Using poison to kill a non toxic plant?

Its like using a nuclear bomb to kill an ant.

Urghhhh. We had a little bamboo when we moved in and thought, well it isn't so bad and it adds some privacy. Two years later it had taken over the yard. Of course part of the issue is even of you are working to get rid of your bamboo, the neighbors bordering you have to be willing to do the same.

We paid someone to pull out everything and I think we sprayed something. That was several hundreds of dollars and we lucked out the neighbor to one side was having yard work done and their person was getting rid of the little bamboo bordering our fence on their side. We also needed to do something with the landscaping in that area and not leave it barren. That was a lot more than a few hundred dollars. We did not do the trenching that was recommended by one person, that would have been close to a thousand extra when we were getting rid of the bamboo forest. Now DH still has to check for shoots on the edge of our yard and he sprays them. One neighbor willingly has bamboo as part of the back yard landscape so I doubt we will ever be completely bamboo free.

The bottom line is you can get rid of it initially but you have to maintain your bamboo free environment especially if it already spread to your neighbors or originated from your neighbor. Not that it is heavy maintenance, it is just another thing on the list.

Meds? Who needs meds? I have bamboo

I heard that bamboo will in fact be the end of the world. Just saying.

Anonymous wrote:Harvest the bamboo shoots and sell them to local Asians. Ha!

In any case, I would just keep cutting down the shoots and don't worry about the herbicide. Eventually the root will run out of energy to grow new shoots and die.

Do you mean in the age of our cockroach overlords or later when the planet crumbles to dust around a fine lattice interior of bamboo roots?

Harvest the bamboo shoots and sell them to local Asians. Ha!

In any case, I would just keep cutting down the shoots and don't worry about the herbicide. Eventually the root will run out of energy to grow new shoots and die.

Anonymous wrote:I put in a call to Johnson's yesterday, since they have an article about it on their website. I'm still waiting to hear back.

In virginia? hes only licensed for md

Anonymous wrote:No really, set the place on fire. It works.

Crazy Bamboo lady, you should take your meds before going to bed....

I put in a call to Johnson's yesterday, since they have an article about it on their website. I'm still waiting to hear back.

Are there any landscapers in VA that are familiar with its removal?

No really, set the place on fire. It works.

Thanks to the non nut jobs here for your words of caution. You may be saving us from a very expensive mistake.

We knew when we moved into our house that we would have an issue with bamboo from a neighbor's yard. The previous owners of our house had done a nice job with landscaping and had made a concerted effort to attack the bamboo problem, which had kept it at bay. The first two years we spent some effort pulling every new shoot we saw, and that seems to have been reasonably effective three years later (didn't want to use herbicides with a kid in the yard). We still get the odd shoot here and there (and that's part of the problem with bamboo - you'll get a random shoot 5 feet into your yard), but nothing major. The neighbors have a short strip of bamboo, maybe 10 feet long, not the wall the OP describes, but it is pervasive. I think a wall of bamboo would be a show-stopper, particularly if your goal was to make your yard child-friendly. Our bamboo is not in the area where our child plays, so it hasn't been a problem.

The neighbors in question don't do anything with their yard - there are all sorts of invasive plants (vines, bamboo, ivy) that find their way into our yard through the fence. At one point we (nicely) asked if they might consider dealing with their bamboo. Their response was that they didn't want to get rid of it because their kids liked playing in it. Um, what? Their kids, by the way, are high school age and never (ever) go outside in their back yard.

So back to OP's original query - large swaths of bamboo are really hard to get rid of without a significant investment of effort, time and potentially money.

If you like bamboo, invest in concrete or other solid planters so it can be contained.

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest poisoning public property or property that is not your own. In addition, you should really consider lighting it on fire, especially if it is on public property or property not your own. The authorities really, really favor that kind of behavior.

Bamboo spreads overnight and has been known to kill people in their sleep.

Is that what you want to hear, OP? Wow, give it up.

Obviously you sell bamboo for a living...

PP has a great point about the patio. I am the 7 year bamboo poster above. I had to hold off for 7 yrs to expand my patio because I knew I couldn't do it until the bamboo was gone because it would pop up any stones.