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Original poster

costly garden work needed due to neighbours plants

27 replies

thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 18:06

can anyone tell me where i stand legally???

the people round the corner from me have bamboo in their garden. their garden backs onto ours.
the bamboo has spread, as it is wont to do, all over my garden.
we tried to keep it down, by snapping it off when it popped up, and digging some of it out

now, however, it is popping up all over the grass. it's very sharp when the first points come up, which means the children can't go out barefoot.
it has ruined the sandpit... coming up through the bottom of it,
and I have now noticed that it is under the patio, lifting the slabs up!

our only way of getting rid of it is basically to dig the entire garden up, and at the same time put something down between the 2 gardens that goes down far enough and is strong enough to prevent it coming through.

here's the twist... i think the house may have changed hands since the bamboo was planted.
i would like to know, if this is the case, whether or not i can ask them for some money towards the very expensive job of making my garden useable again??

OP posts:
MaggieW · 01/04/2011 18:20

Can you not (from your side of fence or theirs) put a spade down to chop the roots that are encroaching on your side to kill off the growth in that direction? Have you spoken to someone at a garden centre (take a piece of the bamboo so they can identify variety) who might also have other suggestions.

I'm haven't a clue legally but would have thought you would have some protection from an annoyance or similar from a neighbouring property? I've just quickly googled this under party wall and this may help www.gardenlaw.co.uk/trees.html

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 18:22

sadly it doesn't work like that... all the bits of root will just carry on growing more ad more shoots.
if you leave a little bit in it'll start growing and eventually take over again :(

thank you for the link tho, will have a read

OP posts:
lalalonglegs · 01/04/2011 19:47

If it's happening in your garden, presumably it's growing in unwanted places in theirs as well. Why not approach the new owners and see if they want to get rid and offer them a hand digging it out? If they love it, speak to other neighbours and see if you can approach them together en masse?

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 19:49

i;m not sure, because the rest of their garden is paved and the bamboo is in a slightly raised bed, so if it's kind of concreted in on their side it'll be ok

there is no way we can hand-dig this out tho, it's spread way too far and way too deep. it's a pig to dig out because it's so thick and strong.
we're going to need a mini-digger (and i say this as someone who really is more than willing to go out and dig in the garden)

we will go and talk to them about it and see what they say, i guess I just want to know the legal standpoint so that if they say no, not our problem I know where i stand

OP posts:
Pinkcushion · 01/04/2011 20:48

I doubt the law will help you. How can you legislate for plants growing - plants do what they like despite the wishes of many including gardeners. I though a trench of some desciption was meant to help. I confess to being a lover of bamboo but was put off after hearing about it's invasive nature.

heavenstobetsy · 01/04/2011 20:53

I would suggest that if you get nowhere, you give it a while and then use some systemic weed killer on the bamboo (you'll need to cover the green shoots, not the tall woody ends). This will kill the bamboo on your side but will also travel back through the root system and kill the main plant.

good luck!

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 20:55

have done some searching and apparently roots are covered by law in the same way braches are.
bamboo is KNOWN to be an invasive plant, and should not have been planted ointo the ground, it should always be kept in a container

aaaanyway, the roots belong to the owner, and any damage caused by them has to be paid for by the owner, that being the landowner, regardless of whether or not they planted it

so looks like i should be ok!

OP posts:
Marne · 01/04/2011 20:59

Spray strong weed killer over it Grin, how bloody anoying, our neighbour at our old house just let his garden grow wild and all the fistles and weeds would grow under the fence into our flower beds Angry.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 21:02

we're tried weedkiller Grin

it's very um, hardy! we cut off all the shoots on our side and painted a systemic killer onto it... went down (on our side) for a bit, but it never kills the whole lot off

OP posts:
Onlyaphase · 01/04/2011 21:11

What sort of bamboo is it? Is it the dreaded Japanese Knotweed?

We had Japanese Knotweed in our garden once and it was impossible to shift. From reading about it now, to get shot of it properly you need heavy duty weedkillers and/or moving all the earth to a depth of 2-3 meters and sending it to a special disposal site. Having had this problem, I'm hyper alert to the problem now and wouldn't even consider buying a house with this in the garden or nearby.

cece · 01/04/2011 21:13

Have you got free legal advise with your house insurance? It might be worth phoning them up for some advice.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 21:15

no idea what type it is. it's incredibly fast growing though, and our direct neighbours next door have it in their garden too.
hard to explain but all 3 gardens join onto each other.

tis a bloody nightmare.

BUT it may have a silver lining because I want to pave my back garden anyway, so if i can get them to pay half the cost of excavating the bamboo then it'll be a lot more affordable!

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 21:16

cece, good call!

i think we'll go round tomorrow and talk to them about it and see what they say.
i'd rather not go down legal route if i can help it, i just wanted to know if i could insist on some sort of compensation if necessary, but hopefully it won't be needed.

OP posts:
snice · 01/04/2011 21:19

perhaps you could buy a Giant Panda?

Marne · 01/04/2011 21:27

lol at giant panda Grin

GrendelsMum · 01/04/2011 21:31

On the plus side, I believe you can eat it as bamboo shoots :)

Onlyaphase · 01/04/2011 21:32

Japanese Knotweed looks like this and grows up to 3 inches a day, up to a height of 8-10 foot tall.

The linked site says you can be held liable for the spread of it to adjacent properties, so see if you can identify it first.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 21:33

i did suggest the panda idea already. dp said no :(

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 21:34

no, it isn't knotweed. leaves are different

OP posts:
Onlyaphase · 01/04/2011 21:37

Good! Am sure bamboo can't be as bad to deal with. Think the idea of calling your home insurance advice line is a great one.

Mirage · 01/04/2011 21:46

Roundup Biactive mixed 3 parts water to one part Roundup will kill it.Don't use the pre mixed spray guns of weedkiller,thay are too dilute.Expect to pay about £35 for a bottle of it though,and you may have to go to an agricultural supplier to get it-it isn't available everywhere.I have used it successfully on knotweed,so bamboo will be a doddle.

1973magpie · 01/04/2011 22:42

Mirage, would you tell me how many applications of Roundup Biactive you had to apply/if you applied it on foliage or injected directly into stems/how many years it took to rid yourself of the knotweed please?

We have just discovered Japanese knotweed growing through from next door, and I have applied ready-mixed Roundup to foliage last year, and also injected the stems...but it's still coming through! I am researching it a bit more and I think that to take any legal action (if things get difficult) it has to be under nuisance laws?

Thisisyesterday - you'd have to check, but maybe the bamboo is covered under the nuisance laws too - after all it is causing a nuisance!

CuntessentialShadows · 01/04/2011 22:47

Are you sure it really is bamboo?

Could it be Giant Reed, arundo donax

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 01/04/2011 22:51

hmmm no i don't think it looks quite like that. less leafy... the leaves are all at the top.

will have a look for that roundup stuff mirage, thanks

OP posts:
Deux · 02/04/2011 21:40

I love bamboo but mine are in huge pots, even though it's a clumping and not a running bamboo.

I think you do have some kind of claim against your neighbours on the grounds of nuisance. Also, it might be worth calling your council.

Your neighbours should have had a bamboo barrier submerged in their garden to stop the spread.

You could get a quote to rectify it from a specialist bamboo supplier. I believe it involves digging lots of trenches and they have to be quite deep.

Might be worth speaking to www.bigplantnursery.co.uk/ as I know they have dealt with this kind of thing before.