Hello,
The neighbor up the hill decided to plant some bamboo to cover the steep hill behind his house. It has quickly come down the hill over the years and it dangerously close to my yard.
What can I do to stop this junk? I don't think much of anything, is there? Do local governments sometimes ban this junk?
Thanks! ray
First of all, be sure it is truly bamboo or possibly giant reed, both of which are grasses. There are several other plants that resemble bamboo, including horsetail (Equisetum) that are not grasses.
If it is truly a grass and actually enters your property, I suggest the use of a grass-specific herbicide. There are several brands available at various nurseries, lumber yards, and hardware stores. Mix it with a little liquid soap (an excellent wetting agent) and spray it on the foliage. It will kill the shoot, its roots, and any runners that it might have sent out.
However, grass-specific herbicides will generally NOT kill back to the original planting. That is both good and bad. It is good because your neighbor will have little grounds for suing you. It is bad because you will have to use the herbicide again.
As you will see every time the issues of fences, adjoining hedges and boundaries comes up the law is not identical over the world and this is an international news group. So you need to consult your own local gov authority on the matter. Glyphosate will knock it down if applied appropriately but as with physical removal the problem is any bits remaining can re-shoot and start the whole process again. Trying to control it at the fence line is a recipe for misery as it will just keep coming every year.
Whatever you do consult the neighbour first, you never know they might be cooperative.
D
Bamboos are some of the quickest growing plants in the world, as some species have been recorded as growing up to 100 cm (39 in) within a 24 hour period due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product.
I tentatively endorse the root barrier idea as a last resort, absent fuller info. First, as advised above, talk to your neighbor, who may not be aware how invasive bamboo of some varieties can be. From what yo write, I gather it is not the clumping, but rather the running, or spreading variety. Shudder! Also, if cconsidering a chemical approach, make sure that it isn't going to **** up YOUR yard. Last: If it comes to digging a trencher, root barrier, etc. if your neighbor is nice and understanding, maybe they will come in on the cost.
Auguri!
HB
HB
CENSORED News - The Lethal Dangers of ³Roundup² Made by Monsanto June 8, 2007 in Agriculture, CENSORED, Cancer, Crops, Eating Can Kill You, Food, Genetically Engineered, Genetically Modified, Glyphosate, Health, Insecticide, Monsanto, Pesticide, Roundup | Tags: CHEE YOKE HEONG, Eric Seralini, Genetically Modified food, GM food, GMO, Lethal, miscarriage, premature birth, Rick Relyea, Robert Belle, Transgenic, weed killer, weedkiller
New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Monsanto¹s Roundup Weed Killer Sources: Third World Resurgence, No. 176, April 2005 Title: ³New Evidence of Dangers of Roundup Weedkiller² Author: Chee Yoke Heong Faculty Evaluator: Jennifer While Student Researchers: Peter McArthur and Lani Ready New studies from both sides of the Atlantic reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weed killer in the world, poses serious human health threats. More than 75 percent of genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to tolerate the absorption of Roundup; it eliminates all plants that are not Genetically Modified. Monsanto Inc., the major engineer of GMO crops, is also the producer of Roundup. Thus, while Roundup was formulated as a weapon against weeds, it has also become a prevalent ingredient within most of our food crops. Three recent studies show that Roundup, which is used by farmers and home gardeners, is not the safe product we have been led to trust. (cont.)
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Monsanto¹s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health
The following article reveals the devastating and unprecedented impact that Monsanto¹s Roundup herbicide is having on the health of our soil, plants, animals, and human population. On top of this perfect storm, the USDA now wants to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, which will exacerbate this calamity. Please tell USDA Secretary Vilsack not to approve Monsanto¹s alfalfa today. [Note: typos corrected from Jan 16th, see details]
While visiting a seed corn dealer¹s demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr. Don Huber walked passed a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on the left (see photo). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and ¹10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.
Don Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not the other. ³Did you plant something there last year that wasn¹t planted in the rest of the field?² he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was, the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn¹t received glyphosate.
This was yet another confirmation that Roundup was triggering SDS. In many fields, the evidence is even more obvious. The disease was most severe at the ends of rows where the herbicide applicator looped back to make another pass (see photo). That¹s where extra Roundup was applied. (cont.)
If it's actually bamboo, simply mowing (or cutting) it works perfectly. True bamboos send up shoots once a year (spring, in climates with winter, anyway). Cut those shoots off (cook them if you like), problem solved. I have a small patch of bamboo - it does grow very fast (once a year when the shoots use up the energy stored up for them over the previous year) and after that it just sits there - the lawnmower keeps it in check quite easily. Once mowed over, the roots that extend under the lawn give up for the year.
Knotweed is a whole different ballgame, but it's also not bamboo. Doesn't keep people from calling it bamboo, but it's not.
If the neighbor is not a jerk, talk. If the neighbor is a jerk, and the lawnmower won't do it, herbicide or government intervention (if your local government intervenes in this sort of thing - which only someone else local to your town (or possibly subdivision) would know. Make sure the wind is blowing towards the neighbors yard when spraying.
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