Bamboo Newsletter 1

Welcome to the first issue of my newsletter, Bamboo Newsletter 1

Having had a good look through the statistics of visits to my website, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of my visitors are searching for various ways of killing bamboo. This may be due to the time of year following summer growth and invasiveness of the plants. I have therefore decided to make the focus of this newsletter...

Alternatives to Killing Bamboo!

Bamboo can sometimes be the target of bad press. This is all too often due to lack of knowledge about the running and clumping types of bamboo, the plants get planted in the wrong place, or the wrong species for the requirements has been chosen. It's a shame that people have to resort to killing bamboo but these plants can become incredibly invasive and throw shoots up several feet away from the main clump. This can come as a big shock and if you don't know what to do about it you may resort to a method of killing it off altogether. If not dealt with the rhizomes just become stronger until it is a mammoth task to stop the spread. So here are some alternatives!

Mow or Snap

If you have a bamboo hedge that sends runners and shoots out beyond it's area of containment, don't panic! Mow the new shoots or cut/snap the shoots off as soon as you see them appear from the ground, while they are still young. If you cut off the shoot the energy goes back to the main plant/clump and the method keeps the spread under control. The only thing that can go wrong is that the new shoots are left too long before being cut off. However, even long shoots/canes can be cut to the ground, or slightly under the soil if they are growing up through a lawn, and then just mow the lawn as usual. Basically, the shoots can't survive if you keep cutting them off in the same way as you keep mowing your lawn.

For pruning tips see this page on

Pruning Bamboo

Some good species and tips for bamboo hedging can be found here

Bamboo Hedge

Bamboo Screen

Diversion

If your bamboo is running in the wrong direction, instead of resorting to killing the plant, try redirecting the growth. I've discovered that bamboo rhizomes will not grow into air and will not cross a ditch. If the runner reaches air it turns in order to stay under ground.

I have bamboo growing on top of a bank. It only grows along the bank because of it's shallow root system. It is prevented from running sideways because there isn't any soil! A similar effect can be achieved by digging a shallow trench next to the bamboo hedge. It doesn't have to be very deep, a spade depth is good.

Bamboo Control and Containment

Bamboo Rhizome Barrier

Containers

Ok.... imagine that the bamboo is driving you insane... you don't like it.... it wasn't you that planted it in the first place.... and even though you do like the species of bamboo, if it is an ornamental variety for example, you just don't want to maintain it with all this mowing and trimming!

Dig up a bit of the clump of bamboo and keep it in a container! That way, you can happily go about killing the main plant but be left with a smaller version that you can move around the garden at your leisure, and keep under control.

For guides to help you with this see my pages at

Transplanting Bamboo

Container Bamboo

or for control... again see

Bamboo Control and Containment

Killing Bamboo

Finally, if you are deadly serious and this plant just has to go.... take a look at my existing page on how to Kill Bamboo at

Kill Bamboo

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