Outside of a decorative pot, many types of this ornamental grass can take over your lawn. While a bamboo plant only flowers and produces seed every 7 to 12 years, the hollow grass spreads widely by rhizomes. These tough, underground stems can withstand sparse herbicide treatment and most environmental elements.
If you have bamboo in your landscaping, keep in mind the spreading pattern of your species. Clumping bamboo will not stray far from where you planted it. Creeping bamboo sends up shoots all over your yard and is extremely hard to remove.
You can contain creeping bamboo by pushing 20-inch pressure-treated wood boards into the ground around your plant. Make sure the boards are tilted outward, with about 2 inches protruding from the ground. Remove rhizomes that start to grow over the barrier.
To rid your yard of an unwanted infestation, you must treat the bamboo aggressively. First pull out as many bamboo shoots, root mass, and rhizomes as you can. For the bamboo you can't pull out, cut the canes close to the ground. Make a cut just below a stem joint to create a hollow stem reservoir. Then pour on tablespoon of undiluted Roundup® Weed & Grass Killer Super Concentrate into the hollow reservoir. The canes will start turning brown in 7-14 days. Spray any foliage that starts to grow back. Be sure not to spray your turf grass or other plants, as it will kill or damage them. Follow up by frequently mowing infested areas, as bamboo does not tolerate this well. Complete eradication may take several years of diligent effort.
Although there are only 3 species native to North America, many imported bamboo types are found in southeastern US and Washington State. The most common types of bamboo have hollow canes with intermittent solid joints. They are a light green or golden color and grow to be 16 to 40 feet tall. Bamboo can be very aggressive and difficult to control
