OT: Boo! Bam! Boo! Bam! Boo Bamboo!!!

[Sandy]

First- To make the obligatory bicycle reference- Calfee makes superior bamboo bikes.

Second- I have lived in the same house for approximately 25 years. My next door neighbor is approximately 96 years and has lived there for about 40 plus years. She has bamboo growing in her back yard, towards the top- lots of it. Over the years bamboo has made its way into my yard. As I have a dog who uses my yard a lot, I had the bamboo dug out. You cannot safely just cut it down because the remaining bamboo becomes very hard and my dog could injure himself on it very badly.

Ever since the banboo was removed, little bamboo sprouts (if that is what they are called) keep coming up- every day. I cut off about 40 or so every day. I even started to split in half the roots that appeared near the surface. Very shortly after I do, new sprouts appear at the ends of the splits. To dig out the bamboo and take out all the routes is, from what I understand extremely difficult to do. I asked a landscaper how do you get rid of bamboo, and he simply said that you don't.

I will not use chemicals because of my dog. Short of well placed cruise missles or tactical nuclear wepons, how my I ask, can you get rid of bamboo....forever??


Thanks for any suggestions.

I try to limit my comments to bikes now and don't start any more dog threads, but I would like some suggestions on the bamboo please......


Boo Bamboo Sandy

[Dave B]

Grow it and start sourcing it to Calfee!

Does it bother King? Is it a big enough area to bother him?

[rwsaunders]

Have you ever thought of buying a Panda too? :cool:

[maunahaole]

One technique I have read about, but not tried, is to place a physical barrier underground to prevent the shoots from intruding. Think a piece of sheet metal that goes 2 feet down. Once you have the invasion stopped, you can mitigate what you have split from the main stand. Bamboo is pretty aggressive stuff, there are some impressive stands of it in the hills here...It will probably take a significant amount of time and proactive eradication to stay ahead of it.

[Lifelover]

One technique I have read about, but not tried, is to place a physical barrier underground to prevent the shoots from intruding. Think a piece of sheet metal that goes 2 feet down. Once you have the invasion stopped, you can mitigate what you have split from the main stand. Bamboo is pretty aggressive stuff, there are some impressive stands of it in the hills here...It will probably take a significant amount of time and proactive eradication to stay ahead of it.


+1

He nailed it. It will be a struggle.

[CNY rider]

how my I ask, can you get rid of bamboo....forever??



Boo Bamboo Sandy

Tell it that it has to buy banner advertising on the site and argue with it about gestalt? :banana:

(Just kidding folks, really!)

[Ti Designs]

Adopt a goat!

Seriously, once it's started to grow you have a serious problem. Look on the bright side, it's not poison ivy! The way to limit it's spread is to build a hard barrier which it can't cross, then move the earth that's been growing bamboo to the far side and fill the gap with new, clean fill. The other method would be to use the weed barrier ground cover cloth where it grows and cover it with gravel for a whole growing season. My guess is that King would dig it up in under a week...

Just to return this to a cycling thread (which it's not), you would think that a fit cyclist could move enough gravel to cover a 30 square foot area in an afternoon. Sadly, cycling only makes you fit for cycling and beer drinking. Have the old guy help.

[93legendti]

Sandy, there was a thread about bamboo a while back. Maybe try a search and see if there are any good tips there.

If the bamboo is limited to one area, maybe you could make a rock garden or a fountain, or some kind of area where a phyiscal barrier can be placed below the surface and you do not have to worry about the grass dying? We put a rock garden in our backyard and it is very nice: 2 small fountains, chinese green rocks--it is pretty soothing to listen to the water running.

[Dekonick]

Have you had a talk with the bamboo and told it how you feel? Often reasoning can accomplish much :rolleyes:

Hi to King. :beer:

[Fixed]

Sandy, there was a thread about bamboo a while back. Maybe try a search and see if there are any good tips there.

If the bamboo is limited to one area, maybe you could make a rock garden or a fountain, or some kind of area where a phyiscal barrier can be placed below the surface and you do not have to worry about the grass dying? We put a rock garden in our backyard and it is very nice: 2 small fountains, chinese green rocks--it is pretty soothing to listen to the water running.
i agree it could be very beautiful
king could make believe he is king of the pandas
cheers

[false_Aest]

http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=468&bhcd2=1213839805


czech this out

[Enigma]

Whenever we try to defeat Mother Nature she lets us know that we shouldn't.

Leave the bamboo alone. It is stronger than we are.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and sue your neighbor. It's the American way!

BBD

[Lifelover]

Tell it that it has to buy banner advertising on the site and argue with it about gestalt? :banana:

(Just kidding folks, really!)


LOL!

[Louis]

AFAIK Roundup-type stuff (which ought to kill it roots and all) is not super-nasty stuff to pets. Once it's dried on the leaves I'm pretty sure any dogs or people in the area would be perfectly safe.

[93legendti]

i agree it could be very beautiful
king could make believe he is king of the pandas
cheers
Heck, Sandy could build a nice dog house for King over the spot in question.

[M.Sommers]

Have you ever thought of buying a Panda too? :cool:

I just snarfed out loud.

:beer:

[Karin Kirk]

Whenever we try to defeat Mother Nature she lets us know that we shouldn't.

Leave the bamboo alone. It is stronger than we are.

Yeah, except for that bamboo growing there isn't natural, it's an invasive weed. But the same moral to the story still applies.

Lois is right, roundup is not too terrible of a chemical. However I'm not sure if it will do the job without repeated applications. I liked the advice from the gardens alive article that False Aest posted, that seemed like good advice, especially the idea of just mulching over it.

BTW, they mean it about being very careful with vinegar type sprays. Last weekend I was using the organic weed killer called "burn out" which they mention in the article, and I had the unfortunate experience of somehow getting some in my eye - either through the air or from my glove to my eye. Anyhow it was not fun. I ended up having to just go inside and lie down and wait for my eye to stop watering and my nose to stop running. I learned a good lesson that just because it's all natural and not "toxic" doesn't mean you still don't have to be ultra-careful!

Good luck!

[Volant]

[QUOTE=Ti Designs]...The other method would be to use the weed barrier ground cover cloth where it grows and cover it with gravel for a whole growing season.QUOTE]

Being an inventor of landscape fabrics, this method won't work. If you want the details of why, I can go into that. Briefly, placing gravel over a ground cloth promotes weed growth (if weeds are growing underneath - that's not how a weed-control landscape fabric should work either - it should stop roots from penetrating from the top-down - that's 99% of the problem - seeds drifting into your mulch/beds and trying to germinate). Having something to push against is something aggressive weeds love! Heck, have you ever seen bermuda grass push up through asphalt walkways? It happens all the time - just walk/ride down your local bike path and you'll see what I'm talking about. Some landscape fabrics block enough light to stop weed growth from underneath. However, the source of light/nutrients for the bamboo in your lawn can be coming from your neighbor's growth (that is just one big long connected root system down there).
Without building a physical barrier to the encroaching root system, I'm not aware of anything simple that will keep the bamboo at bay. I work with a man who has battled bamboo for over 30 years (don't burn it, he tried that, it just came back). He built a physical barrier to prevent spread toward his house and the bamboo field is now over 2 acres of his 7 acre lot.
Sorry.

[Fixed]

bro do you know how much it cost here it is very expensive I have been wanting to get some but it is kinda high
cheers it grows really fast like an inch a day

[BURCH]

My father had a similar experience. They eventually had to get a bob cat and dig up the stuff. They basically had to get below the shoots(roots).

As stated above, it is very aggressive and your neighbor should have only planted it in a contained area (Like a raised bed with cement bottom and sides). Bamboo sends shoots underground and spraying or any topical attack won't maintain it because the shoots below the ground are the issue You will need to put in a barrier like Ti Designs said.

Good Luck.

[Acotts]

[QUOTE=Ti Designs]...The other method would be to use the weed barrier ground cover cloth where it grows and cover it with gravel for a whole growing season.QUOTE]

Being an inventor of landscape fabrics, this method won't work. If you want the details of why, I can go into that. Briefly, placing gravel over a ground cloth promotes weed growth (if weeds are growing underneath - that's not how a weed-control landscape fabric should work either - it should stop roots from penetrating from the top-down - that's 99% of the problem - seeds drifting into your mulch/beds and trying to germinate). Having something to push against is something aggressive weeds love! Heck, have you ever seen bermuda grass push up through asphalt walkways? It happens all the time - just walk/ride down your local bike path and you'll see what I'm talking about. Some landscape fabrics block enough light to stop weed growth from underneath. However, the source of light/nutrients for the bamboo in your lawn can be coming from your neighbor's growth (that is just one big long connected root system down there).
Without building a physical barrier to the encroaching root system, I'm not aware of anything simple that will keep the bamboo at bay. I work with a man who has battled bamboo for over 30 years (don't burn it, he tried that, it just came back). He built a physical barrier to prevent spread toward his house and the bamboo field is now over 2 acres of his 7 acre lot.
Sorry.

Who would have thunk it? We have a landscape fabric inventor on our forum. One with nice legs to boot.

[Ray]

Others here are vastly more qualified to explain why not, but my experience is that bamboo is the most pernicious plant out there. You simply cannot kill it. We bought a house about 16 years ago that already had a small patch of bamboo in the back yard. Thought it was real purty, nice screen, all that. It quickly became the bane of my existence. Tried chemicals, tried cutting it down every year, tried various magical incantations, tried napalm (not really, but I woulda). It spread into our neighbors yard - they didn't blame us since it was there when we got there but it became a joint problem. We had a barrier installed, which helped for a while, but it eventually jumped under it. We finally gave up and just stayed on top of mowing the stuff down before it really got started. And kept machetes by the fence for the stuff that we couldn't mow.

Really hateful stuff. You just have to learn to cope, because you can't beat it. Some problems you solve, others you just manage - this one you can only manage. Actually, we did eventually solve the problem. We sold the house.

-Ray

[TimB]

Sandy -

Our house in MD had lots of bamboo when I moved in. I got a machete, a strong shovel, a mattock and a hatchet and set to work. In only a couple months the back part of the yard looked like a moonscape, but I'd dug out all the d*mn bamboo. I then was very observant for the next year or two and dug out underneath any new shoots...by the end of the second year we were pretty much bamboo-free.

[Bob Ross]

Boo! Bam! Boo! Bam! Boo Bamboo!!!


Darnit, and here I was all excited that this was going to be a thread about boo-bams! http://www.pas.org/museum/Tour/0304.cfm

[jhcakilmer]

Sorry, I can't give a reasonable suggestion. We had about 2 acres of it growing across from our house, and we use to go over and blaze through it with machetes, like Indiana Jones.....it was a lot of fun!!

Anyway, my parents got tired of looking at it, and eventually my dad wanted to put up a building, so they just bulldozed it, planted grass, and keep it mowed.

[Ti Designs]

Being an inventor of landscape fabrics, this method won't work. If you want the details of why, I can go into that. Briefly, placing gravel over a ground cloth promotes weed growth (if weeds are growing underneath - that's not how a weed-control landscape fabric should work either - it should stop roots from penetrating from the top-down - that's 99% of the problem - seeds drifting into your mulch/beds and trying to germinate). Having something to push against is something aggressive weeds love! Heck, have you ever seen bermuda grass push up through asphalt walkways? It happens all the time - just walk/ride down your local bike path and you'll see what I'm talking about. Some landscape fabrics block enough light to stop weed growth from underneath. However, the source of light/nutrients for the bamboo in your lawn can be coming from your neighbor's growth (that is just one big long connected root system down there).
Without building a physical barrier to the encroaching root system, I'm not aware of anything simple that will keep the bamboo at bay. I work with a man who has battled bamboo for over 30 years (don't burn it, he tried that, it just came back). He built a physical barrier to prevent spread toward his house and the bamboo field is now over 2 acres of his 7 acre lot.
Sorry.


Sounds about right, but just for the record I'd like you to know that sucks!!! The old lady who's land surrounds my house is growing poison ivy (she also has an army of flying monkeys and she drives a broom). I can get a rash from seeing a picture of poison ivy, so I need to keep the stuff out of my yard. There's a 2' "no grow zone" all around my yard which is weed barrier topped with gravel. Seeing as I'm looking for a complete dead zone I've soaked the earth below the fabric with ground clearing stuff (it's 4" below the surface, who's it gonna hurt?) My other option is to build a small nuclear device in my basement and detonate it. This would solve both the poison ivy problem and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink...

[FMS_rider]

I would move to the Madison area in Wisconsin. It's road biking heaven here and there is no bamboo.

Lew

[Volant]

Sounds about right, but just for the record I'd like you to know that sucks!!! The old lady who's land surrounds my house is growing poison ivy (she also has an army of flying monkeys and she drives a broom). I can get a rash from seeing a picture of poison ivy, so I need to keep the stuff out of my yard. There's a 2' "no grow zone" all around my yard which is weed barrier topped with gravel. Seeing as I'm looking for a complete dead zone I've soaked the earth below the fabric with ground clearing stuff (it's 4" below the surface, who's it gonna hurt?) My other option is to build a small nuclear device in my basement and detonate it. This would solve both the poison ivy problem and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink...

Sorry, Ed, it does suck! But, you did make me laugh! BTW, if you killed everything under the landscape fabric, what's there to come up through it?! That's why a weed control landscape fabric needs to stop roots from penetrating from the top down. Since you killed everything underneath, you're pretty safe having the rock on top of it IF the fabric is the kind that stops roots from penetrating from the top (there's only one that does this and that's Weed-X). Now, keep the rock level shallow and/or if you have mulch on top of it, keep that shallow as well (1"-2"). There won't be enough moisture for the roots to thrive in and the plant will search more hospitable environments (the witch's yard).
If you're not afraid/concerned about chemicals, use Glyphosate to kill-off the poison ivy. This may take several applications and is best applied during growth phase (spring).
Not to be a downer, but birds love PI seeds and they'll feed on them, fly off and drop some in your landscape, thus allowing a new plant to establish itself in your landscape. You'll need to be a good shot to down the birds within your 2' border.

[rwsaunders]

When all else fails...

[Ti Designs]

Sorry, Ed, it does suck! But, you did make me laugh! BTW, if you killed everything under the landscape fabric, what's there to come up through it?! That's why a weed control landscape fabric needs to stop roots from penetrating from the top down. Since you killed everything underneath, you're pretty safe having the rock on top of it IF the fabric is the kind that stops roots from penetrating from the top (there's only one that does this and that's Weed-X). Now, keep the rock level shallow and/or if you have mulch on top of it, keep that shallow as well (1"-2"). There won't be enough moisture for the roots to thrive in and the plant will search more hospitable environments (the witch's yard).
If you're not afraid/concerned about chemicals, use Glyphosate to kill-off the poison ivy. This may take several applications and is best applied during growth phase (spring).
Not to be a downer, but birds love PI seeds and they'll feed on them, fly off and drop some in your landscape, thus allowing a new plant to establish itself in your landscape. You'll need to be a good shot to down the birds within your 2' border.



Oh, it's much worse than you think. I have a huge grape arbor in the back yard, it's a 20' x 12 foot structure that stands 8' high with it's own lighting and sprayers and two different types of grape vines - all less than 10' from the fence. If I don't keep after the vines and reroute them as they grow they make it over to the fence and the poison ivy winds it's way back and onto the arbor. It's like I'm having a battle of wits with a plant - and losing!!!

Lew, I've raced at SuperWeek twice. There's a crit around the Madison capitol which always happens on a 90 degree day. The lines on the road are tape which doesn't stick when hot, so it's kinda like walking around in a dark room of a house with a small child who leaves their toys all over the place. At least the Boston potholes stay in the same place!