How to Kill Running or Clumping Bamboo: Get Rid of Bamboo for Good, KILL BAMBOO
There are two major types of bamboo. The first type is called running bamboo. Running bamboo gets this name because the rhizomes spread out quickly and will create a wall of bamboo in a short time. Running bamboo is the most hated type of bamboo, but it is also the most effective if you want to create a privacy wall. Clumping bamboo stays in a tighter clump and grows more slowly than does running bamboo. Clumping bamboo can be just as difficult to kill.
Kill bamboo with herbicide:
To kill bamboo with herbicide you will need shears, a brush and a pale of herbicide (I have heard that vinegar will work). First, cut the shoot six inches from the ground then within 15 seconds you must paint the herbicide onto the shoot. It is important to paint the herbicide onto the shoot as soon as possible if you do not then you will not kill the bamboo. This is because the sap will retreat back down into the rhizome within 15 seconds and you want the sap to carry the herbicide with it and kill the rhizome. To kill bamboo this way you will want to have only a few shoots.
Kill bamboo by containment and starvation:
This is to kill large groves of bamboo. To kill bamboo this way you will need to spend some money. You will need a backhoe! Use the backhoe to dig out all of the bamboo. Go down about 16 inches. Now, create a trench at least 30 inches deep around the perimeter of the bamboo, and the width of the bucket. Fill the trench with concrete or gravel. This will contain the remaining rhizomes. Spread at least two inches of concrete or gravel on top of the pad. If you use gravel then place black plastic on the gravel. This will keep all of the rhizomes contained below the surface and they will eventually starve without reaching sunlight and die. Next fill soil to ground level and plant grass to cover the area where the bamboo used to be.
You can use these techniques to kill running bamboo or to kill clumping bamboo. If you do not want to kill all of the bamboo but simply want to contain it the dig the containment trench and fill it with concrete. Some types of bamboo have been know to grow through concrete but if it is wide enough this method should work well. To kill bamboo shoots that get through the barrier use the herbicide method.
Published by 1 Crazy Camper
The author grew up in rural Kansas. He earned a Bachelors degree in Construction at Pittsburg State University and moved to Virginia to chase a dream. View profile
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56 Comments
Post a CommentI killed bamboo.
You must cut the stems and shoots before they grow to be four inches tall. I turned the area where the bamboo was growing into a dirt pile. I would regularly turn the dirt with a shovel - this caused the bamboo sprouts to be cut as well. Basically digging about six inches down all around in the dirt they are growing in. I did this whenever the shoots would appear. Probably every two weeks in growing season. Continuing to cut the stems and shoots over two years caused the main power of the bamboo to die. This is an amazing plant and its power should be harvested for energy.
I just spent thousands of dollars the have a backhoe dig up the bamboo that my neighbor planted. I have tried everything else, nothing ever really worked. Good luck to everyone, me included.
I'm curious about the gasoline working on bamboo. After finding a shoot growing through my bath floor last nite (between tub and floor) I have had enough. I have a very tropical yard and worry about the other plants,palm trees, etc.. Did you pour the gas directly onto the shoot? I want to stay as eco friendly as possible to everything else in the yard. They seem as if they have gotten much larger around this season, anyone know why that may be?
Bamboo is a tall grass. It likes water and fertilizer, but you can control / eliminate using either or both
Bamboo doesn't like water-logged roots so one way to kill it off is to cut it down and build a water-retaining wall around it, and flood it for an extended period of time.
Another way, say if your neighbor's bamboo is spreading into yours, is to first, use a spade to sever the rhizome connection with the neighbor's bamboo and dig a bit of a trench to maintain the separation. Then cut down or mow down all the bamboo. Follow with a heavy dose of fertilizer and water it. The rhizomes will send up new shoots. Mow down the shoots, fertilize and water again. After a few rounds of this, the rhizomes will be exhausted of stores and unable to send up new shoots.
This worked well for me, especially when I put compost and worms down on the area, pegged down thick black plastic, and then built a raised bed over it. A few years later I took down the raised bed and under
A year ago I bought some running bamboo and contained it in a 16" wide flashing that acted as a barrier until the bamboo pushed the flashing up enough to slide underneath in two spots. I panicked and dug down to remove the bamboo in the two spots, cut back the bamboo stalks, covered the entire area in thick black plastic and hope to suffocate the stuff. It seems to be working. Does anyone have an idea how long I need to keep the plastic cover over the area before I can remove and plant something less invasive? Tom
Aside from being incredibly messy, my neighbors bamboo is damaging my fence and my shed. TIME TO DIE! While I haven't completely eradicated it, I have slowed it way down. I buy ortho vegetation killer in the concentrated form and put it undiluted into a pump sprayer. When sprayed onto the rhizomes it knocks them dead. I also drill holes into the stalks and spray the herbicide directly into the shoot. And while it doesn't knock them instantly dead, it does make all the vegetation fall off and the tips of the shoots die as well. I'm expecting the shoots to die a slow painful death. All signs indicate that it's working. My approach isn't one of instant destrcution, it's more of a keep winning small battles and eventually win the war. I'm definitley beating back this unbelievably invasive plant.
Easy to knock down in when growing in the wrong place? Sure is and take 15-30 minutes 2-3 times a week. Real pain and it's just right back, during the right time of year literally comes back the next day and the next for weeks.
I don't think so easy. I once enjoyed mine for a couple of years then it took off in all directions of the yard. Worth money? Isn't worth a cent here.
embrace your bamboo! They're graceful and make peaceful sounds that drown out traffic noise. Their young shoots are editable (cooked) and easily knocked over if grown at the wrong place. They're worth a ton of money (you'll be surprised). ps. Stop spreading the hysteria people.
Has anyone decided to take their neighbor to court over Bamboo?