The Hippie's B⊙⊙mboom Threap

[xilman]

Originally Posted by xilman

It was SWMBO's and my weeding anniversary last week so we went out and bought some plants. She now has a prostate rosemary and I have a Phyllostachys violascens which was planted in its permanent home this afternoon.

The bamboo has settled in very nicely and has been putting up culms of ever greater height and diameter. One of this season's is over 3cm in diameter.

Another culm came up about 3m away from the main plant and well within the boundaries of the lawn. I broke it off today when it was about 25cm high.

It was peeled, sliced lengthwise into three pieces and them boiled for 4-5 minutes. Absolutely delicious!

It is now another member of the veggie garden and everyone is under strict instructions not to chop off new culms wherever they appear until they are ready for harvesting.

[Uncwilly]

I need to prevent bamboo from growing in some areas. I don't have control of the main planting. There are parts that come under concrete and invade my place. Short of a constant battle with a pick, shovel, and cutting tools, any advice?

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

Short of a constant battle with a pick, shovel, and cutting tools, any advice?

You could go "systemic" with your attack, but that would kill any plant exposing leaves and having connecting roots.

2-4-D, for example. Or Roundup if you want to go nuclear.

If you have time on your hands, you could paint a herbicide on the weed's leaves.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by chalsall

You could go "systemic" with your attack, but that would kill any plant exposing leaves and having connecting roots

I tried a kilo of NaCl over about 2.5 m² topically to the area. No good results so far. I thought if it was good for the Romans....

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I need to prevent bamboo from growing in some areas. I don't have control of the main planting. There are parts that come under concrete and invade my place. Short of a constant battle with a pick, shovel, and cutting tools, any advice?

The only reliable one with which I have any experience is to put a barrier in place.

Dig a trench 50cm deep or so around the bamboo (ideally, but it sounds like you can't do that) or the area to be protected. Line it with rhizome-proof material. Poured concrete is by far the best but thick plastic liner works well in practice if you ensure that any joins are well-overlapped and secured with adhesive. When digging the trench follow and remove any rhizomes which are beyond the pale.

Another approach uses a trench and back-filled with gravel rather than an impenetrable barrier. Makes the rambling rhizomes easier to find, cut off and dig out. Not in favour of this one myself because eternal vigilance is still the price of freedom from infestation.

I've tried chemical warfare, without much success. It might work for taking out the entire plant but doesn't seem to dissuade one from spreading.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I need to prevent bamboo from growing in some areas. I don't have control of the main planting. There are parts that come under concrete and invade my place. Short of a constant battle with a pick, shovel, and cutting tools, any advice?

I think a physical barrier is the only reliable option to keep the bamboo out of your part of the garden.

Bamboo is a grass, so to kill it you need glyphosate (Roundup) or another "nonselective" herbicide. With liquid herbicides, adding a wetting agent (I use an El Cheapo liquid "drying aid" for dishwashers) helps the stuff stick to water-resistant leaf surfaces. But since the roots are all connected, poisoning the part affecting you would also poison the main planting. If you construct a barrier, you could poison the bamboo on your side of the barrier.

Someone who had once laid in clay pipes underground for a wastewater system on a farm, told me they covered the joints with something, and put rock salt under the covering, to discourage penetration by tree and shrub roots. If you construct a barrier, you can supplement overlaps with salt under sheets of waterproof material covering seams.

There are also products that are supposed to discourage "suckering" from trees. I don't know if they would discourage underground runners, but I don't know that they wouldn't. I do know they're much more expensive than salt.

Another idea occurs to me. It sounds like the bamboo might be an "invasive alien." If you know or can find out what species of bamboo you're dealing with, you might check to see if it's officially classified as a noxious weed designated for eradication. Many plants on official "hit lists" were originally sold as horticultural or landscaping plants.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I need to prevent bamboo from growing in some areas. I don't have control of the main planting. There are parts that come under concrete and invade my place. Short of a constant battle with a pick, shovel, and cutting tools, any advice?

You could try what I do.

My Phyllostachis nigra is now mature and is a beautiful, much loved plant by SWMBO, me and our neighbours. Unfortunately, it is a friendly plant which likes to pay visits.

In late spring every year I go next door armed with a mattock and loppers. Any unwanted interlopers are removed, leaving those culms which are deemed welcome.

You could try asking your neighbours to grant you the same courtesy.

[Uncwilly]

I think that I need to convince those who control the source plant that it is costing them more that it is worth and other species will provide the same benefit.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I think that I need to convince those who control the source plant that it is costing them more that it is worth and other species will provide the same benefit.

You could, and should, try.

You may find out, as I did, that they decide the additional cost is worth the benefit.

[Dr Sardonicus]

No luck on state agriculture "hit list." I finally looked up California Noxious Weeds. I did a text search on "Poa" (for the grass family Poaceae). Thirty entries. No bamboo species.

[veganjoy]

In the spirit of the revival of this thread, I come bearing bamboo-related questions! I've just cleared out some dying rose bushes on the side of our house and Mike wants me to put something there to replace them; he mentioned bamboo and now I've gone on a spree of research.

It seems that a running bamboo isn't out of the question if we put a liner in place as xilman mentioned, but a clumping variety would likely be the most convenient as far as maintenance. River cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is native to this general area which would be cool but I don't think the conditions are wet enough for it or its smaller sibling to grow properly (Arkansas Delta but not near a body of water, USDA Zone 7-8). Some kind of Fargesia would be perfect but I think it's too hot and wet for those species. I think the conditions here are similar to where many species of Phyllostachys are native to/thrive in, but they'd probably get too big.

I'll be planting along the south side of the house which always gets lots of sun (very hot in summer), the drainage here is poor so whenever it rains the ground is soggy for days afterwards, and I believe our soil around here has a lot of clay in it. My mom would prefer it stay on the short side, so maybe no more than 15-20 feet tall (I don't know if there's a way to limit vertical height)? She does eat bamboo shoots sometimes so a tasty variety would be a plus. Are there any bamboos that sound perfect for this environment/situation?