Help! Bamboo is taking over my yard!

[CCUGal]

Someone sent me a message (whoever did that, thank you!) and suggested I contact the city and notify them that the owner isn't doing anything about this issue. They are looking into it. So hopefully that will resolve this. We ended up pulling all the bamboo by the roots but I have a feeling it will be back. I just needed to get rid of it for the time being.

[Butterfly4u]

CCUGal,
Just for a little info, DONT fertilize your lawn around where you pulled the roots out. You don't want to feed the bamboo at all.
Do not water close to where you saw the bamboo shooting up.
Without any fertilizer, or any extra water, this may discourage it from spreading again into your yard.
Check every week, be diligent, and if you see a shoot, cut it right away. Right down to the ground.
Good luck.
If you stay on top of it, and make it unhospitable for the bamboo, you may keep it from taking over your yard.

[wit-nit]

Cutting it down to the surface only encourages the underground rhizomes to multiply and actively grow even more so. Best bet is digging them out which is a major chore.

[CCUGal]

The city came back and said they aren't doing anything about the issue. That's cool......not.

Does anyone know why the bamboo has been contained for the past several years and it now is just spreading? Where it's growing, it's on a dirt like surface, but some grass is nearby. Will mowing encourage it to spread?

[Moth]

Originally Posted by CCUGal

The city came back and said they aren't doing anything about the issue. That's cool......not.

Does anyone know why the bamboo has been contained for the past several years and it now is just spreading? Where it's growing, it's on a dirt like surface, but some grass is nearby. Will mowing encourage it to spread?

OK, my prior response was a bit terse.

Around 10 years ago, bamboo was encroaching on my mother's house from two sides. I used a pick axe to get rid of it. The blade is excellent for hacking away at the roots and the point side is good for pulling the tough ones out. I also had a jug of Round Up.

I will not lie. This was tough work. I was a younger man then.

You could do that if you are up for it. Otherwise hire someone. The pros have other ways to get rid of it. I even read somewhere some can do it organically.

Mowing will do nothing as most of the action is underground.

Bamboo often circumvents barriers. I have a small clump (you'd think I would have learned...) growing in a buried wash bin and it is starting to expand outward. It is much more controllable though as it is a small species.

Start now while the ground is soft and the stuff is growing.

[Butterfly4u]

CCu,
Remember, Bamboo is grass.
It needs sunshine, water, and food, like grass food.
It can spread whenever it has the energy and opportunity to spread.
The only way it is going to take over your yard is if you ignore it.
If you cut it down, don't feed it, and mabey even put a shade structure up, like
the shade structures at HD, or even build one yourself, it will not want to spread to that
area.

[GRF206]

Originally Posted by CCUGal

The city came back and said they aren't doing anything about the issue. That's cool......not.

Does anyone know why the bamboo has been contained for the past several years and it now is just spreading? Where it's growing, it's on a dirt like surface, but some grass is nearby. Will mowing encourage it to spread?

Bamboo spreads by underground rhizomes, not by seed... (most species only produce seeds once every 17 years or some odd number like that). I have bamboo in my yard, but I always contain it in two layers or professional rhizomes barrier, and mostly in raised containers so that the rhizomes have nowhere to go if they escaped.

Anyway, if your neighbor/landlord is failing to contain their bamboo, you could consider suing them. It does happen, but it is probably a hassle. But you could use the funds of the suit to hire a professional to put in a trench between you and the neighbor and line the trench with rhizome barrier.

Don't know why it is spreading suddenly now if it wasn't in other years, maybe it just go old enough to start spreading, or maybe your soil attracts it.

[luv4horses]

Mowing may not " get rid of it" but it is effective at keeping it in check. I even found some in an area I used for livestock. First I cut it down, then between me and the livestock, it did not poke up again except in the late spring as soft, yummy sprouts which the animals grazed down. Without the grazing, mowing would have been enough. Problem is, you still need to persevere forever.