Toured a rental house this past December and made the mistake of not throughly inspecting the backyard. I assumed everything was dead and dry because of the winter but as spring has begun, quickly learned that is not the case.
The realtor made a quick comment about “the bamboo will be cut down” when I toured and I didn’t think much of it because naively I didn’t realize what a nightmare plant it is. The landlord did tell me when I moved in that he had it recently cut and to let him know when it grew again so he can have it cut again. I’ve let him know and he is sending someone out, but is there anything at all I can do with this massive part of my yard or just accept that it’s going to be an ongoing case of bamboo growing, landlord getting it cut, nothing else being able to be there, and move on? We also had heavy rain last month and I learned the area floods pretty easily so there’s also that 🫠
Some bright sides: I really only plan to stay here 2-3 years tops before buying my own house, I’ve planned to use raised garden beds with legs all along so I can take my plants with me, there is a patio/deck area so I can still host, and the sides of yard have actual grass and aren’t as consumed by bamboo (yet 😅) so my dog has some space to run and play.
But still open to any creative ideas on how to make the yard not look so dry and sad every time I look out 🥲
TLDR; moved to have a yard and have a shitty yard 🤡
by Mountain-Material-45
13 Comments
I helped a friend remove bamboo from his parents’ yard once. We ended up renting an excavator and digging like 6 meters down, and that stuff still kept coming back here and there. Its absolutely stupid
Without removing a layer of top soil fire and seeding over top of it repeatedly with what you want in the area. Even then you’ll be battling it monthly for years.
At least they’re being proactive about cutting it back!
I have no idea if this is true or not, but I saw a video where a landscaper was describing his way of eliminating bamboo by letting it grow until right before it put out leaves and then cutting it to the ground. The claim was that repeating this 1-2 times per year would ultimately drain the root structure because of continuous growth with out ever getting good access to sun through leaves. But I’ve also been told that the culms perform photosynthesis as well so…
From the pictures you posted, the bamboo is just breaking the surface. All plants need to feed by having sunlight on their stems and leaves. At this stage, you can put on a pair of hiking boots and kick the sprout off and prevent any part of the plant from growing up and getting sunlight. You can dig it out or you can starve it out. I had a friend who had a large patch of running bamboo, and he laid metal roll sheeting and overlappede it I think 8 inches and then had 8′ of pea gravel over the entire patch to hold it down . He only had a couple make it through the metal so it can work if you make sure to never let it feed on light.
Say eff it and raise pandas.
You gotta get the stubbles down to ground level. Then raked. Then a weekly mowing will keep the weeds, grass, and bamboo at lawn level. I’ve done this very thing.
Be thankful you are renting and consider using potted plants, for easier moving in the future.
This will be a problem as long as you live there. The root structure is so dense it will continue to make rainwater pool up. The best remediation is a combo of digging it up and chemically kill what remains.
Wait for the sprouts to pop up and then knock them over at ground level when they’re 6-10” tall. Works great
You’ll kill the beneficials in the soil, but you could put some large, heavy, black tarps over it and weigh them down for… I dunno, a few decades, till the bamboo gives up?
Yep, it’s something you’ll have to live with. It’s good the landlord is trying to control it but it’s a years long battle and you’ll probably be gone by the time they make any headway.
Bamboo shoots are delicious, look up how to cooke them.
Infinite food hack at this economy, lucky man!