Bamboo control

What is bamboo?

Bamboos are usually valuable ornamental plants. However, if not kept under control some bamboos can become invasive garden weeds – particularly the types that spread by rhizomes (underground stems).

The problem

While bamboos are usually a good, ornamental plant, here are some of the problems encountered:

• Bamboo shoots may pop up anywhere in the garden: neighbouring land or even through solid barriers, such as in patios and conservatory floors. Most weed-suppressant groundcover fabrics will not stop bamboo spreading
• The problem tends to be with the invasive types of bamboo. These bamboos spread via long rhizomes, which help the plant to colonise new areas
• The clump forming bamboos can also grow out of control, but do not tend to spread as much as the running bamboos

Control

If you have a bamboo that has got out of hand, you may want to bring it back under control, or just want to eradicate it completely. Complete eradication will take time and patience.

Non-chemical control

• Non-chemical methods involve digging out clumps of bamboo and restricting the size. This can be difficult with very large plants, or on heavy soil. Use a sharp spade to dig up the entire clump or to remove sections from the edge of the clump that have grown beyond the limits. Sever the rhizomes as you go, lifting and removing them with a fork or trowel. The fringes of larger clumps can be rotovated
• If you wish to keep the plant, consider planting it inside a physical barrier (see the bamboo profile for more information on physical barriers)

Chemical control

• You can use a weedkiller to remove unwanted growth, or the whole plant. The larger the plant, the more difficult it will be to completely kill it, and it may take several applications of weedkiller to succeed

Eradicating unwanted growth

• To ensure you only kill unwanted growth, first sever the underground rhizomes from the parent plant with a garden spade
• Apply a tough formulation of glyphosate (e.g. Scotts Roundup Ultra 3000, Scotts Tumbleweed, Bayer Tough Rootkill, Bayer Super Strength Glyphosate or Doff Knockdown Maxi Strength Weedkiller) to the foliage of the section you want to kill
• Consider replanting the original clump, or a division of it, inside a physical barrier to prevent future spread. See the bamboo profile for more information on physical barriers

Eradicating the whole plant

• With very tall bamboos, which can be difficult to spray, cut down canes to soil level in late winter and then apply a glyphosate-based weedkiller (e.g. Scotts Roundup Ultra 3000, Scotts Tumbleweed, Bayer Tough Rootkill, Bayer Super Strength Glyphosate or Doff Knockdown Maxi Strength Weedkiller) to the young growth in late spring and early summer. Several treatments may be needed

Downloads

Weedkillers for gardeners (Adobe Acrobat pdf document outlining weedkillers available to gardeners; see section 4)

Links

Chemicals: using a sprayer
Chemicals: using safely and effectively
Chemicals: using spot and broadscale weedkillers