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Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,921
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Today I skipped the gym and worked out in my yard digging bamboo.  We had a nice rain yesterday so I knew the ground would be diggable which would not be the case if it were dry.  This and other yard work tasks is how I stayed in such good shape during all the time my gym was closed. The only things I had difficulty with going back was the running and the stretching.

 

1st pic is the bamboo I dug.  2nd pic is bamboo I cut down and will go back and use Roundup on when the new growth occurs.  I try to dig back to the fence where it's coming from but that is no easy task since I likes to grow underneath other roots.

 

Bamboo dug up.jpg

 

Bamboo.jpg

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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,934
Registered: ‎05-09-2014

Bamboo is savagely invasive. I admire your fortitude tackling it. Yes, Roundup is your friend for this challenging task. (Please wear vinyl or latex gloves using Roundup.)

good luck!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,921
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

@gizmogal, it seems to have gotten more aggressive since the new neighbors next door cut theirs down and salted it.  Of course, theirs is coming back too.  I'm looking at a 3-prong approach.  I try to dig back to the fence.  As it starts to grow back I'm going to start using Roundup, and then in winter there is a chemical I can put down that will attack the roots.  And, there is also the possibility of a 4th prong of a soil sterilant although I would prefer not to go that route if I don't have to.  It's not an area I have any use for, but previous owners planted some hibiscus along the fence row I'd like to keep even though the struggle trying to find enough light.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,213
Registered: ‎03-30-2014

Around here it is blackberry.  Even deer can't jump it and rabbits keep away.

 

The one person I know who was successful used a backhoe and went down several feet.  Chemicals, digging roots or plastic don't work.

 

We teased him about excavating a swimming pool, but he was sort of grouchy.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,776
Registered: ‎08-04-2013

@Icegoddess   Do you perhaps live near a Zoo with Panda Bears?I bet they would love the free bamboo.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,921
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: Today's Workout

[ Edited ]

@grandma2pkmh there are only 4 zoos in the US that have Pandas and I don't expect that they would accept bamboo donations from the public.  I'm sure they have a good supply.  

 

I don't have that much bamboo because I keep digging it.  It was my neighbor that planted it and then later neighbors who just let it take over their back yard.  They were really strange, spending hours on their front yard and letting their back yard go to pot including the swimming pool that they eventually just covered and left it that way with no pump running.  Now, it looks like a wasteland because the new owners cut all the bamboo down and salted it, so everything is now brown, but the bamboo is coming back. 

 

The new neighbors have not yet uncovered that swimming pool.  But, they are having a bug problem.  Imagine that.

 

ETA:  The cut bamboo is from behind my fence where my property line extends about 2-3 feet.  I had not been digging it back there.  

Regular Contributor
Posts: 245
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

I am so glad I saw this post!  I am in love with bamboo and I've been wanting to plant some.  I live in Southern Illinois.  I've been doing some research and have seen that the running bamboo is bad because it's invasive and that I should buy clumping bamboo so it doesn't run/become invasive.  Is that true?  Do you have running bamboo that you are clearing out?  Any information you could give me about it would be great!!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Icegoddess   I will NEVER use Roundup as it is so toxic to environment and to just EVERYTHING.  I had some bamboo that grew out of a pot and got rooted into the ground ...grew for years.

 

What I did that killed it was I  bought gallon jugs of white vinegar and poured it on the area every  so often just where the bamboo was growing.   It killed the bamboo in a matter of just a few months.

 

vinager is not good for the soil....but it is not toxic...and over time the soil will amend and cleanse itself....but the vinagar is a good alternative to chemical toxic warfare.  You might try this. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,921
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

@pegsue wrote:

I am so glad I saw this post!  I am in love with bamboo and I've been wanting to plant some.  I live in Southern Illinois.  I've been doing some research and have seen that the running bamboo is bad because it's invasive and that I should buy clumping bamboo so it doesn't run/become invasive.  Is that true?  Do you have running bamboo that you are clearing out?  Any information you could give me about it would be great!!


@pegsue I did not plant it, but I would say yes, it is running.  It sends out rhizomes and a shoot will come up several feet away.  I have also read that it will come up through concrete.  Apparently, you need a barrier at least 2 feet deep to keep it from spreading, something that will never happen here with all the big rocks and roots in my soil.  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,652
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@Icegoddess , good for you for taking on this hateful job!  I wish you success.  The battle, especially with the rhizomes, is a tough one.

 

Be careful with the Roundup.  There is a class action here in Canada against the makers.  Roundup is illegal here in its original form.  Cancer issues among landscape professionals, especially around golf courses.

 

I think there is a formulation now that is not as toxic but I couldn't swear to that.  LM