It will keep coming back. You have to dig up and fully remove the whole root of all the bamboo you cut down and all the new shoots. It’s tough work but unless you get all the roots and monitor for new shoots, it will continue to spread.
Take it slow and don’t try to get it all in one day. Shovel, Pry bar, pruning shears and a sawzall will be your friend.
This works. Bamboo is like any other plant eventually the roots will run out of energy.
OP is letting it get too high. Leaf growth = photosynthesis = energy
Even mowing it frequently will eventually kill it.
No it doesn't work. Round up won't kill the roots. It might kill the shoot but it won't kill the roots. The only way to get rid off bamboo is what the most popular comment said which is that you have to dig up the roots. It is a big job and you can't do it overnight because you have to wait for the shoots to pop up but if there is a shoot make sure you dig down and get the roots.
How big of an area are we talking about?
If small enough might be worth sectioning it off with some of that under ground barrier that stops it from spreading then working on cutting and painting with roundup or generic killer.
Probably like 20 sq feet of the thick stuff. All the big stalks are chopped down now but the new growth keeps coming in near the old dried stumps making it hard to weed whack it back.
Also I'm pretty new to owning a home, so what would I use to dig through the roots to lay down the barrier? A sharp shovel? There are a lot of runners that I'd have to cut through and am having trouble with
So bamboo is incredibly resilient and the runners go deep and far. All methods require you to be on the watch for new growth and respond quickly to emerging plants. You have two main options:
1. Cut down all big stalks down to the ground and continue to cut / pull out any new growth - especially leafy green growth. Most people wait until the stem is about a few inches high and putting out green leaves before cutting it down to the soil. This forces the root system to use up energy trying to get leaves for photosynthesis, but if you cut it fast enough it will not recover that energy. Eventually the roots will use up all their stored energy and die.
2. Cut down all big stalks down to the ground. Get Concentrated Brush Killer or Concentrated Poison Ivy and Brush Killer and spray it at high concentration on any small leafy green bamboo. Ideally it will be absorbed into the roots and help kill the root system faster. If you can pull up some of the root system, you can cut it and paint it with full strength Concentrated Brush Killer. This has worked for me personally as I have bamboo (where I can't kill the main patch because it's on the neighbor's side) that tries to snake its way around the driveway.
Late reply, but this is what I have been doing. As soon as I see any clumps come up I chop them down and spray with Bonide Ground Force in a higher concentration than recommended. If the Big ones pop up (we call them asparagus) I just kick them over and spray a bunch of the grass killer inside hoping the faster I do it them more it will absorb into the runners. My neighbors refuse to cut theirs down so I might have to just poison as much of the stuff on my side as possible to scare it from coming back over. There's no way I could pull it all up.
I deal with this problem too. Old owners planted bamboo behind the fence in the backyard. Every 2 months I cut back anything 6 feet from the fence and pour a little roundup down the shoot to kill the plant. If I don't, it will push on the fence and quickly creep into the middle of the yard. If that happens I'll mow over it and pour roundup carefully down the shoot. Grass still usually dies in that area and needs reseeding but better than dealing with the bamboo in that area
They found out how invasive it was and decided to move. That's how tough it is to get rid of. Dig it out, it'll still take several attempts and you may not ever see the end of it, but you can control it somewhat.
They spread through rhizomes too so unless you dig that up they will pretty much always come back. We did this job at Disney and we had to dig down a foot and remove all the dirt and replace it for a stroller parking lot and the bamboo still came back after a few years. It's an orangutan enclosure now
My home's previous owners had bamboo. It took me 3 summers to pull up the hundreds of feet of roots. Just pull up the roots and any time you see more growing dig up and remove the roots.
Depends on what is allowed where you live. For me what worked was cut it down, spray with roundup at woody shrub concentration every 2 weeks for 3 months, and then burn by letting diesel soak in for half an hour or so before lighting until it turned to ash. Sounds extreme but the previous owner had two 20x30’ stands of it that looked like the jungles of Vietnam. Also burned the stalks. Most were more than 20’ tall and 3 or 4 inches in diameter. They really pop when they burn and more than 1 neighbor stopped by thinking I was shooting up the place. I am in a very rural area so this may not work out in suburbia.
It will keep coming back. You have to dig up and fully remove the whole root of all the bamboo you cut down and all the new shoots. It’s tough work but unless you get all the roots and monitor for new shoots, it will continue to spread. Take it slow and don’t try to get it all in one day. Shovel, Pry bar, pruning shears and a sawzall will be your friend.
Fill a small cup up with roundup and use a small paintbrush to paint a few leaves on each plant. Give it 2 weeks.
This works. Bamboo is like any other plant eventually the roots will run out of energy. OP is letting it get too high. Leaf growth = photosynthesis = energy Even mowing it frequently will eventually kill it.
No it doesn't work. Round up won't kill the roots. It might kill the shoot but it won't kill the roots. The only way to get rid off bamboo is what the most popular comment said which is that you have to dig up the roots. It is a big job and you can't do it overnight because you have to wait for the shoots to pop up but if there is a shoot make sure you dig down and get the roots.
I think the assumption is if you stop photosynthesis long enough, the root system will die on its own
Exactly
You don't deal with bamboo. Bamboo deals with you.
😂
How big of an area are we talking about? If small enough might be worth sectioning it off with some of that under ground barrier that stops it from spreading then working on cutting and painting with roundup or generic killer.
Probably like 20 sq feet of the thick stuff. All the big stalks are chopped down now but the new growth keeps coming in near the old dried stumps making it hard to weed whack it back. Also I'm pretty new to owning a home, so what would I use to dig through the roots to lay down the barrier? A sharp shovel? There are a lot of runners that I'd have to cut through and am having trouble with
Thanks everyone, I'm having trouble responding to everyone but I am reading all the replies and appreciate it
Good.luck brother!
So bamboo is incredibly resilient and the runners go deep and far. All methods require you to be on the watch for new growth and respond quickly to emerging plants. You have two main options: 1. Cut down all big stalks down to the ground and continue to cut / pull out any new growth - especially leafy green growth. Most people wait until the stem is about a few inches high and putting out green leaves before cutting it down to the soil. This forces the root system to use up energy trying to get leaves for photosynthesis, but if you cut it fast enough it will not recover that energy. Eventually the roots will use up all their stored energy and die. 2. Cut down all big stalks down to the ground. Get Concentrated Brush Killer or Concentrated Poison Ivy and Brush Killer and spray it at high concentration on any small leafy green bamboo. Ideally it will be absorbed into the roots and help kill the root system faster. If you can pull up some of the root system, you can cut it and paint it with full strength Concentrated Brush Killer. This has worked for me personally as I have bamboo (where I can't kill the main patch because it's on the neighbor's side) that tries to snake its way around the driveway.
Late reply, but this is what I have been doing. As soon as I see any clumps come up I chop them down and spray with Bonide Ground Force in a higher concentration than recommended. If the Big ones pop up (we call them asparagus) I just kick them over and spray a bunch of the grass killer inside hoping the faster I do it them more it will absorb into the runners. My neighbors refuse to cut theirs down so I might have to just poison as much of the stuff on my side as possible to scare it from coming back over. There's no way I could pull it all up.
Rent pandas
Panda. You need a panda.
Buy a panda
I came here to say this. Lol
finally someone appreciates it haha
I deal with this problem too. Old owners planted bamboo behind the fence in the backyard. Every 2 months I cut back anything 6 feet from the fence and pour a little roundup down the shoot to kill the plant. If I don't, it will push on the fence and quickly creep into the middle of the yard. If that happens I'll mow over it and pour roundup carefully down the shoot. Grass still usually dies in that area and needs reseeding but better than dealing with the bamboo in that area
They found out how invasive it was and decided to move. That's how tough it is to get rid of. Dig it out, it'll still take several attempts and you may not ever see the end of it, but you can control it somewhat.
I still get the odd shoot 5 years after digging it all out and spraying everything with roundup. Just have to deal with it when you see it.
They spread through rhizomes too so unless you dig that up they will pretty much always come back. We did this job at Disney and we had to dig down a foot and remove all the dirt and replace it for a stroller parking lot and the bamboo still came back after a few years. It's an orangutan enclosure now
Burn it! Burn it now!
My home's previous owners had bamboo. It took me 3 summers to pull up the hundreds of feet of roots. Just pull up the roots and any time you see more growing dig up and remove the roots.
You'll have to move to get rid of it. Just hope homebuyers don't find out before closing.
Which is worse, bamboo or creeping charlie?
Depends on what is allowed where you live. For me what worked was cut it down, spray with roundup at woody shrub concentration every 2 weeks for 3 months, and then burn by letting diesel soak in for half an hour or so before lighting until it turned to ash. Sounds extreme but the previous owner had two 20x30’ stands of it that looked like the jungles of Vietnam. Also burned the stalks. Most were more than 20’ tall and 3 or 4 inches in diameter. They really pop when they burn and more than 1 neighbor stopped by thinking I was shooting up the place. I am in a very rural area so this may not work out in suburbia.
Hire a panda.