How do I get rid of bamboo? Lots of small ones, that is.

[FannyPriceless]

Hi gardening gurus. Please help. We have moved to a new house and one area of the garden has a lot of small bamboo plants dotted around, thanks to the previous owner.

I am aware these can go crazy so want to get rid of them. What is the best way? They are all about 12 - 18 inches high, and are all over the place so assume they have already been merrily spreading.

Do I pull them up? Do I spray? What's the best time of year? Any help much appreciated.

Anyone?

Hmm. Difficult to say without knowing which variety it is - some bamboos are far more invasive than others - but have you tried digging it up? In fact, are you sure it's bamboo? It must be a dwarf variety if it is.

Bamboo has pretty tough roots and you probably won't be able to just pull it out, but you may succeed if you dig. Just in case it is one of the rampaging spreaders, make sure you get all the bits of root out. As the weather is mild, you could do it now and then you will have created a lovely planting space for the spring.

Then pot it up and donate it to your local gardening society for their spring plant sale!

OK, I'll try digging. Thanks for replying. I suppose it must be a dwarf variety. It is defintiely invasive as there are about 40 or 50 plants spread all over the place!

Ah yes, if there are 50 that suggests an invasive weed rather than your predecessor's planting scheme! If you can't dig it out, you could try any of the glyphosate-based weedkillers, but plants that are hard to dig out are often the ones that are equally hard to kill.

Are you saying that none of them are over 18 inches high? Most bamboos are much taller than this, especially if they are old enough to start spreading.
It could be equisetum. It comes up looking a bit like bamboo. Terribly invasive. If it is you need a strategy involving glyphosate.

equisetum

Ah. I hadn't thought of equisetum, although I should have done as we have it on the allotment. Boo. I had wondered whether it might just be arundo donax, planted as part of a "grasses" theme, but the fact that there are 50-odd suggests it isn't any sort of deliberate planting scheme.

Can you post a pic, FannyPriceless? Sadly, I am very good at recognising equisetum.

The equisetum sounded horribly correct as the previous owner was very into planting grasses. We have just dug up four enormous grasees and there's still three left.

But anyway, I googled equisetum and it doesn't look like that. It has large floppy bamboo-type leaves, and quite a slim grassy pale coloured shaft.

I'll see if I can take apphoto in the daylight tomorrow.

The leaves sound a bit like arundo donax but, again, 18 inches is far too short, unless they're all runners from a Mother Plant somewhere.

If you live in or near Edinburgh, and if the bamboo is of the right variety, you could donate it for the pandas. You could dig the plants out and ask if the zoo would like them - apparently it is being planted wherever possible in the grounds.

If it is bamboo (but it does sound very small) then it is a flipping nightmare. Dig it up. Ime bamboo grows very tall (8,10,12ft), very quickly and the runners go everywhere.

It's not equisetum if it has leaves, so that's good.
We'll have another guess when you post a pic!

OK, have now posted a pic on my profile. I managed to pull up a short section of root system which you can see. It is clearly evil!

This will require nasty chemicals, won't it? What do I use?

I have bamboo. tbh to get rid of it would probably take a flamethrower or napalm or similar.

Interesting thought about the pandas though. Maybe I could borrow one for a few days and let it graze?

It does look like the dwarf bamboo I had growing in a pot. Glyphosate should do the job (although it may need more than one application) or anything sold as a brushwood killer. If you have it growing amongst plants you want to keep, it may be easier to dig out the entire bed, discard the bamboo and replant.

Thanks Maud. It is mostly growing on a bank which we are going to largely replant, which does make it easier.

I have looked up glyphosate and it says it can't be used between Nov and Jan. Do you know why not? I am so keen to get started on killing the evil stuff right now!

G needs to be used on young growth for best effect, so Nov to Jan would not be the best time. It is absorbed through the leaves, so you can increase absorption by trampling on the leaves, to slightly damage them, before you spray.

Place marking as I have some pernicious stuff in a border which is affecting a beech hedge.

I have been told the only way to eliminate bamboo is to set fire to it. My neighbour has one he hates but as it is next to his prophane gas tank he is stuck with it.

HTH

We dug it out and covered the area with plastic for a few months.
It was a total nightmare and took literally days to do one bed.
Feckin bamboo grrrrrrrr.

Might take a blow torch to mine then, avoiding the beech with any luck.

Fannypriceless -It is definitely bamboo.
Alouisee- Burning it won't make any difference in the long run as this won't affect the roots.

Dig it out where you can, dig deep and follow the roots back.
In the spring when the new shoots appear, snip the tops off and 'inject' the hollow stem with a systemic weed killer which contains glyphosate.
The new root and stump killer by Roundup has a little syringe type thing (just squuezy plastic but it helps).
Put as much of this into ech stem as you can.

Systemic weedkillers take the poison down into the root and should kill the whole plant. It will look yellowed at first before dying back.
If you get growth again you'll have to repeat the process.

If you live anywhere in the Gloucestershire/Monmouthshire borders I can come round and treat it for you!

squeezy
each

Thank you TrulyScrumptious, I'm a bit far for you but I'll give it a go.

catsareevil Rent-a-panda! A snip at £600,000 a year!

I'd be cheaper buying a flamethrower