Help! What is this and how do we get rid of it?!

[LemonLemonLemon]

We had a large planter built last year for some bamboo. This year there appears to be a really fast growing invader. It looks like another type of bamboo, but not sure?

This morning there were three shoots in the lawn that have appeared overnight! Meters away from the planter so we don’t know how it is spreading?!

What is it? Where did it come from? How do we get rid of it?

Thanks!

Pic to follow as I couldn’t get it to post!

H

Hmm. I was wondering about Japanese knotweed but I’d have expected a reddish tinge to the stems.

It’s asparagus 😊

Looks like bamboo. Do one of your neighbours have some? It spreads by underground runners.

That was my first concern, but the stems aren’t leafy and don’t look the same- that’s one consolation

Looks a bit like horse tails, which grows like a thing possessed but I’m not sure.

Just read the mention of bamboo in your first post

It's a new shoot, the leaves will fill out as it grows. I had bamboo at my old house and had these in the lawn frequently

It's not horsetail or knotweed, it's bamboo. If you leave it to grow you would see leaves, I imagine.

I agree with January, it does look like asparagus!

I don't know if there's a non-chemical solution for that sort of invader - it's the sort of thing which may require painting with a systematic herbicide such as glyphosate to deal with effectively.

Our neighbours have bamboo, but it doesn’t look like that either. The stems are thick and pointy.

Just Googled horsetails and I don’t think it’s that either!

Definitely not asparagus! Though that would be handy haha.

Thanks for suggestions so far!

It’s a running bamboo which spreads underground then pops up. You need to dig out the original plant and all of the underground roots reaching towards the new sprout... and quickly because it will spread more.

I think that’s just your own bamboo that’s escaped the planter...

Bamboo is the devil's work in gardens

What sort of bamboo did you put in the planter? Pic of that?

Whatever it is dig the roots even if it destroys the lawn. A stitch in time will save you nine.

This is why I don't like any invasive plants bamboo.

Definitely bamboo. Looks like the bissetii bamboo that I have. Shoots can appear some distance away from where it was originally planted.

@suggestionsplease1 spot on! Just googled the shoots and this is it!

Totally different to the type we have, but happy for it to live in my planter... just not in the lawn!

That's your bamboo escaping the planter. We made the mistake of planting bamboo in our garden. It sends runners underground then those shoots pop up metres away. I always cut them off.

Kill it in flames. Bamboo is the devil.

It’s just new bamboo. Bamboo spreads like wildfire! Get rid of it while it’s only a few spikes!

Ive had bamboo in planters for years, it’s never escaped. I think it’s runners from your neighbours garden. The new shoots can be thick or thin depending on nutrients. Your lawn might be very fertile.

My neighbours have bamboo on both sides. One side is contained and I don't see anything but the other side is I contained and the bamboo constantly coming through my garden including my lawn. I cut up down and it stops growing and pops up again. Very frustrating

Not JK. Not horsetail which has noticeable rings around the stems. Those stems look like they have leaf sheaths which would be right for grass family and therefore bamboo is likely.

You could use a systemic weedkiller, which is absorbed into the plant and disrupts its growth. Use that on the stuff in the planter and hope that it is attached to the stuff in the lawn. Takes about 3 weeks for effects to become noticeable. If you use it on the stuff in the lawn, remember that bamboo is the grass family so your grass is equally susceptible - you could try putting on a pair of rubber gloves and using your fingers to wipe the weedkiller up the bamboo stems without dripping on to the lawn. Alternatively, you could mow regularly all summer, which will weaken it as there's no top growth to replenish the energy reserves used in sending the shoot up. You will need to remain vigilant and uproot any shoot that breaks surface. No plant can keep on putting up shoots for ever if it doesn't get the chance to replenish its energy reserves. It's like repeatedly starting your car but never driving it more than half a mile - eventually the battery is completely drained.

Of course, if your neighbour has it too, that would re-charge the plant's energy reserves. so you'd have to rely on weedkiller.