Bamboo

[Laughton]

Not really Building or DIY but I noticed a thread about lawnmowers so hope this might be allowed.

Does anyone have a foolproof way of getting rid of a biggish clump of bamboo. I've seen a number of videos on Youtube but my patch is in a smallish walled garden so using a JCB isn't really practical.

I've chopped the bamboo down but its' left a raised patch of earth/roots that is almost impossible to get a spade into.

The ideal would be something I can spray on that will kill the roots and cause them to rot - even if that takes some time or a number of applications.

Any help, much appreciated.

[TallInvestor]

My sympathies. I inherited an 80ft long bamboo hedge with our house and it has become the bane of my life. Access for a mini-digger would require some demolition but I have given it serious thought, and will probably resort to that eventually. I have tried various weed/stump killers, of which Roundup is the best but not good enough. It treats the immediate area that is applied, but does not spread through the root network, contrary to the implications on the packaging.

I use two tools in combination, a pick-axe for getting down under the shallow runners and a Root Slayer shovel (from Amazon) for cutting through. We have heavy clay which is too wet to work over the winter and sets solid in the summer, so I get about 6 weeks in April / May to make some progress!

Good luck.

[GeoffF100]

I have had trouble with bamboo, but not the most aggressive variety. Fortunately, my neighbour has cut down the main plant. Is the bamboo coming in from outside? I now have grass over my entire garden, so that the bamboo has no hiding place and I can mow it down regularly. The roots should die eventually if you keep doing that.

Attacking bamboo with a spade is hopeless as you have found out. A fork is better. I had a small fork with only two prongs left. That was more effective.

Spraying the roots is no good. Bamboo is resistant to Round Up. I believe that it is possible to pour super strong Round Up (I think you need a licence to use it) into each of the the individual cut stems. There are lots of articles on the web, and contractors who deal with bamboo.

[GoSeigen]

We've had success with glyphosate. There were two species, one was a sasa-type possibly Sasaella ramosa and the other a fast growing tall one, species unknown. Both responded well to the recommended dose (we used the strongest mix for grass-type plants per the label) which was applied to the sasa foliage in dry weather during the growing season with a knapsack spray applicator. Each year we follow up with any plants that have survived or dig out isolated individual plants with their roots. The tall variety was cut down and the stump immediately sprayed liberally with the same concentration; this clump has needed follow-up applications to regrowth each spring plus we dug up surviving roots where it was easy to do so.

I think we are into the third season of treatment now. This year there were very few remnants. The entire area where we poisoned was of course denuded. After two years there was good regrowth of indigenous species and many alien weeds which we have removed by hand. This third year it's mostly indigenous and recovering very nicely. There must have been a decent seedbank surviving or the birds and grazers have done their job.

With very stubborn alien species we have not mucked about with manual clearing. We just hit them with poison and then make sure to follow up rigorously.

Good luck.

GS

[bungeejumper]

As mentioned above, there is bamboo and bamboo. Some varieties spread, and some don't. We were lucky because ours was a clumping variety, and it happened to be shallow-rooting, but a running variety caused immense probs for my friend in rural France. Glyphosate is effective, but so is the non-glyphosate version of SBK root and brushwood killer. (Drill and pour, and dilute with paraffin to improve penetration.)

I'm pretty sure that there was a thread on the Building and DIY forum, with specific reference to how it might (or might not) impact on foundations and suchlike. Oh look, here ya go. Check out the Guardian link. Scary, or what?

https://lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f ... 1&p=670913

[Edit]: If I had to dig up bamboo roots again, I'd start with the strongest forks you can get, and a couple of scaffolding poles for the extra leverage. But I've been removing a very large and very dead box bush recently, and my trusty electric reciprocating saw proved to be well able to cut roots even while they were still in the ground! (Yes, it wrecks the blades, but they're only a pound each.) That still wouldn't deal with a running bamboo root, but it might enable to you remove the core of the plant, which would be a good place to start?

BJ

[88V8]

Does anyone have a foolproof way of getting rid of a biggish clump of bamboo.

We have a clump which is now putting up canes 18ft long, and has begun spreading.
The 18ft is a nuisance as it is under power lines and I have to remove the tallest.

Regards the roots, I find that a sharp mattock does the job.

V8

[GoSeigen]

Glyphosate is effective, but so is the non-glyphosate version of SBK root and brushwood killer.

I'd be interested to know what active ingredient that is. If it's triclopyr as found in the product I bought recently then that won't be effective against any monocotyledon (grass-like/narrow-leaved plant) including bamboo. If not tryclopyr then what ingredient should the OP be looking for? I can't find the root version that you mentioned with a quick search.


GS

[Laughton]

Many thanks for all the replies.

I am making some (very slow) progress using a spade and pickaxe. Chipping/slicing at the extremities of the clump (now chopped down to just above ground level). I'm managing to fill one wheelbarrow with roots each day but at this rate summer will be over and done with by the time I finish and of course the heavy clay will become much harder to work as the weather gets better.

I was wondering whether it was worth buying one of those butane powered weed blowtorches:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125614048263 ?

What do people think - might this work? Could be a lot less back breaking than what I'm doing now.

[servodude]

Many thanks for all the replies.

I am making some (very slow) progress using a spade and pickaxe. Chipping/slicing at the extremities of the clump (now chopped down to just above ground level). I'm managing to fill one wheelbarrow with roots each day but at this rate summer will be over and done with by the time I finish and of course the heavy clay will become much harder to work as the weather gets better.

I was wondering whether it was worth buying one of those butane powered weed blowtorches:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125614048263 ?

What do people think - might this work? Could be a lot less back breaking than what I'm doing now.

blowtorches/flaming works best for plants where you can damage the leaves sufficiently and repeatedly that it exhausts the root system (it tries to keep the above ground part going but withers in the effort)
- but normally you just end up with burnt bits that regrow from the roots
Can't see it having much effect with bamboo.

I have found an 18v recip'saw with a suitable blade useful for breaking roots up

[bungeejumper]

I have found an 18v recip'saw with a suitable blade useful for breaking roots up

Indeed, my neighbour bought one after he saw what my plug-in Galax can do. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/GALAX-PRO-Reci ... J9L5/?th=1 - although actually mine is the 900 watt version). Triffic sturdy tool for £38, although it would be essential to buy some packs of blades, because they do blunt quickly.

Agree that gas flame weed burners are more or less useless if the roots of even the smallest weeds are going down more than a couple of inches. Also environmentally iffy, since they're running on dinosaur juice and increasing global warming etc. And all for just a couple of weeks before the many-headed monster rears its ugly head and needs to be killed again. And again. And again....

BJ

[staffordian]

I bought this...

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb881 ... 240v/282vv

...mains powered recip saw a few years ago to get rid of a troublesome laurel hedge. It made relatively light work of the three or four inch diameter trunks and worked on the roots too.

Presumably far cheaper than a cordless one, as long as an extension cable will reach the work area, though I guess a bare saw might not be too bad if one already has some batteries.

[GeoffF100]

I had one of the running varieties. I cut through roots with a tool like this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/spear-jackso ... -40-/75976

The most progress was made by levering up roots and cutting them through where necessary. I had some paving slabs pulled up, and it was a mesh of roots underneath. I had bamboo coming up through the cracks between the slabs. Long nosed pliers were the most effective way of dealing with those.

I have just mowed the lawn for the first time this year. I did not notice any bamboo coming up, but it likes warmer weather, so I am not declaring victory yet.

[GoSeigen]

Glyphosate is effective, but so is the non-glyphosate version of SBK root and brushwood killer.

I'd be interested to know what active ingredient that is.

Just bumping this question as this herbicide might be useful for our work too...

GS

[bungeejumper]

I'd be interested to know what active ingredient that is.

Just bumping this question as this herbicide might be useful for our work too...

Red-faced apologies for not having responded yesterday.

Well, it's either that I got lucky with my plant murdering, or else that I suffered a brain fart, because the SBK bottle in my shed does indeed say that it contains triclopyr, which as you say is not normally considered effective on grass-type plants. (Although it might still be worth a go if you deep-drill and mix with paraffin.) The consensus seems to be that glyphosate is your top choice, even though it will nuke every other plant. It certainly worked a treat on our bindweed, whose roots were nearly an inch thick and twelve or fifteen inches down.

Some folk seem to swear by neat vinegar for bamboo, or even WD40. And incidentally, SBK is said to be effective against mare's tail. And japanese knotweed too. I'm sceptical about that one.....

BJ

[ReformedCharacter]

One way to break down bamboo roots, once you have killed the plants, is to apply a large amount of high Nitrogen fertiliser, such as:

https://www.progreen.co.uk/fertilisers/paddocks/amvista-orgamino-natural-nutrition-25kg-13-0-0/

Add plenty and cover with a tarp or sheets of plastic, the roots will rot, the fertiliser will speed up the process greatly.

RC