How to Eradicate Bamboo

Bamboo has many uses, but its growth needs to be controlled.

Bamboo plants are best known for their hardened, cane-like stocks, which, due to their durability, are used to make such items as fishing poles and walking sticks. Bamboo is also known for its rapid proliferation, being able to grow up to 15 inches a day if not kept in check. While bamboo can be useful, it can also be a terror for gardeners once they decide to get rid of it. Eradicating bamboo requires work and diligence.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors or knife
• Herbicide
• Shovel

Instructions

1. Cut the bamboo off at its base as close to the ground as possible. It will grow back if you do nothing further, but doing this gives you more space to access the root system. Immediately apply herbicide to the cut you made so it will seep down into the roots.

2. Dig up the root systems of the bamboo plants with a shovel. Either destroy or discard them. The herbicide you applied earlier can help kill off roots you happen to miss.

3. Watch for new growth. "Running bamboo" means that there is an intricate underground system of rhizomes that link all the bamboo plants together, essentially making the entire population one large organism. If you have running bamboo, you will need to exhaust the bamboo's nutrients, since the rhizome system is so difficult to remove completely.

4. Destroy new bamboo stocks as soon as you see the plants breaking through the soil again. Cut the plant out with scissors. Continue doing this to prevent the bamboo from using the new stocks for photosynthesis. This will drain all the nutrients out of the rhizomes below the surface, and the whole system will die out over time.

References

• Badhonhara.com: What Is Bamboo?
• Complete Bamboo: How to Remove Bamboo
• Bamboo Inspiration: How to Kill Bamboo