Removing 1.5 Acres of Bamboo in Towson, MD (2023 Update)

[Elliott P]

Greetings all. A new property of my family's is covered by a massive stand of running bamboo. The lot is six acres rectangular, where about

*one and a half* acres of the total acreage is covered by a very dense stand of running bamboo. It is 350 feet long deep at its longest dimension The plants have been there for decades, as the property was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. It is our intention to restore the property, inside and out.

Options for removal I've seen generally target small areas. However this is a much bigger problem! My first thought is to hire someone with a bulldozer to come push it all down, and then put it all in a commercial wood chipper. This could get expensive though. What else can we do? What problems does my scenario present? Hiring a panda bear would probably not go over well with the neighborhood.

The property is in Towson, Maryland.

Thank you in advance.

[Evan]

Are you allowed to clear cut the wooded/brush/bamboo area ?

Is it considered a "wet land" ?

You should check with your nearest conservation/environmental authorities to make sure you are allowed to cut all of that natural vegetation down without some kind of site plan/impact study done and having a permit hearing...

~~ Evan

[DD_BobK]

check this out

Depending on the species, your bamboo forest could yield 50,000 to 100,000 pounds of dry timber per acre.

From second link.......

ERADICATING BAMBOO. Bamboo can be eradicated by several methods:

1. Graze it with cattle during the summer. If the plants are so large that cattle cannot bend them over to graze the leaves, they should be cut and the cattle allowed to graze the new plants as they emerge.

1. Cut the old plants in winter or early spring and the new shoots as they emerge in the spring and summer. This will require cutting several times.

2. Spray the area with a herbicide. Of the several tested at Auburn, Sodium TCA (sodium salt of trichloroaecetic acid) gave best success. This should be sprayed on the soil over the areas in which the bamboo is growing at a rate of 50 pounds active ingredient in at least 100 gallons of water per acre. It is preferable to apply it in late winter or early spring before new growth starts. Rain will carry the chemical down to the root system and it will be absorbed. This will sterilize the soil for about 90 days, so nothing should be planted on the area until about June.

You can also kill bamboo by flooding the area and keeping it flooded for a couple weeks. I killed a very small area of bamboo (~2' x 2') by flooding.

Sounds like you have a fair amount of work ahead. :(

cheers Bob

[Ron]

(rolling eyes)

[The Daring Dufas]

I imagine you could interest a back scratcher manufacturer? ^_^

TDD

[Brooklyn1]

Burning won't do much except make the bamboo grow back faster and stronger. With six acres to tend you really need a decent sized tractor anyway, something at least 40 HP. I already have the tractor and a 5' tiller, also a 7' brush hog that depending on the bamboo might knock it down. With the right equipment 1 1/2 acres is a relatively small area for clearing. Were it me I might rent a flail shredder. Then till, and rent a rake... with the tractor till deep and then rake out the roots. You can hire an excavating company or DIY. You don't indicate the type of bamboo; how thick/tall... photos would help... it may need a crew with chain saws or a flail shredder could do the job:

time of year a nearby farmer might do the job at a reasonable price, I'd guestimate $2,000. But with bamboo there's no guarantee it won't grow back... then I'd think you'd have to resort to a defolient, probably several applications.

[Sonny]

I received an addendum to the herbicide treatment. Garlon 4 (and RoundUp) can be mixed with water, also. Adding a little detergent to the mix would allow for the herbicide to better adhere to the slick bamboo stalk.

I wouldn't recommend using a bushhog or shredder to cut the bamboo. Any knot or joint, left behind, would likely sprout. Running bamboo/ yaupon is a prolifically invasive grass specie.

You will have one heck of a job removing all the above ground bamboo debris, no matter what you do to cut it. Do a little at a time. It'll eventually get done, unless you can afford to do or have the whole job done, at one time.

Sonny

[dennisgauge]

Roll your eyes all you want but if the DEC catches on to what you're doing, and it's not "legal," they can pretty much ruin you for life.

[Harry K]

I had the same reaction as Ron when I read that post.

I don't think it is native anywhere on the continent. but then I hae been wrong once or twice in my life.

Harry K

[Kay Lancaster]

Prepare for a multi-season struggle:

's a vast network of underground rhizomes that can sprout the second you knock down the tops, and will keep on doing so as long as there is stored starch in them. It will take a very long time to exhaust them by purely physical control methods, so this is one of those cases where physical and chemical controls may be required.

Always a good practice with trying to control something this firmly established:get an expert id on the weed first. If, for example, you've actually got Japanese knotweed, sometimes called Japanese, American or Mexican bamboo, there's a good possibility that the control measures could be different.

Kay

[Mysterious Traveler]

That Bamboo is worth a lot of money. Before you destroy it look on Ebay and see how much it sells for then think of how much you can make. It's like money in the bank. People pay for something you don't want.

[Brooklyn1]

Maybe he'll sell it to you, all you gotta do is come and take it all.

[Kay Lancaster]

There are 3 species of Arundinaria native to the US, all in the SE/Appalachia area: A. appalachiana, A. gigantea, and A. tecta. That's all we've got for native bamboos. There are others in N America, in Mexico and Central America. Mexico, for instance, has 8 genera and 35 species.

If you want to know more:

Kay

[David E. Ross]

Actually, the Arundinoideae are not bamboos. They are reeds. None of the bamboo genera fall within that subfamily.

[David E. Ross]

Oops! Arundinaria are NOT part of the Arundinoideae. Instead, they are indeed bamboos.

[JIMMIE]

I had a half acre lot down in Ga my parents bought for me as a gift. Some gift! I could mow it down and there were be 6 inch sprouts the next day. The lot was in town but my neighbor had goats on a little hobby farm out in the country. We fenced in my lot and put the goats on it. It took all summer and fall but the goats finally won out. A new job took me out of state so I let my neighbor grow a garden on the lot until I could sell it. Think it would take too many goats for yours.

Jimmie

[Kay Lancaster]

Arundo is in the Arundinoideae; Arundinaria is in the Bambusoideae. I think you're confusing the two genera.

Arundinaria are the giant canes; they are found in N. America and S. Africa. When you read about canebrakes, they're talking about big stands of Arundinaria.

Kay

>

[John Simpson]

Greetings all. A new property of my family's is covered by a massive stand of running bamboo. The lot is six acres rectangular, where about

*one and a half* acres of the total acreage is covered by a very dense stand of running bamboo. It is 350 feet long deep at its longest dimension The plants have been there for decades, as the property was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. It is our intention to restore the property, inside and out.

Options for removal I've seen generally target small areas. However this is a much bigger problem! My first thought is to hire someone with a bulldozer to come push it all down, and then put it all in a commercial wood chipper. This could get expensive though. What else can we do? What problems does my scenario present? Hiring a panda bear would probably not go over well with the neighborhood.

The property is in Towson, Maryland.

Thank you in advance.

If you're in MD, your 'bamboo' is most likely Japanese Knotweed. It's REAL tough to get rid of!

JAS

[Home Guy]

I cane "beat" my wife & her grandmother with a chunk of it. You should see granny try to wheel away from me when I get the big stick out. She gets it twice as hard when she tries to make a break for it.

[gregz]

I said in another group, I'll bet the Amish could do cool things with that.

Greg