Removing bamboo: laborious, but not hopeless

Contents

1.  To remove a bamboo again is something for the patient in species with strong runner formation. With these tips you will get rid of the annoying bamboo runners.
   2. Removing bamboo: The most important things at a glance
   3. Which bamboo is difficult to remove?
   4. Which types of bamboo are easy to remove?
   5. Removing bamboo: step by step

 To remove a bamboo again is something for the patient in species with strong runner formation. With these tips you will get rid of the annoying bamboo runners.

bamboo looks good all year round and is actually easy to care for. 

However, certain species can become a burden if they grow too large 

or if bamboo runners conquer the whole garden. 

There is nothing left to do but to remove and destroy 

the bamboo - a laborious but not hopeless undertaking.

Originally planted as opaque and robust ornamental grass, 

bamboo can quickly become too large and send runners in all directions. 

Problematic are especially old plants in newly taken over 

gardens or those that were simply planted years ago without rhizome barrier. 

To remove the bamboo then again, costs much strength and time. 

Simply digging up and paving the area or creating new beds does not work. 

If rhizome remains of more than five centimeters in length remain, 

new shoots soon push their way out of the ground or through the pavement joints. 

Weedkillers also have no lasting effect - especially when it comes to removing a large bamboo.

Removing bamboo: The most important things at a glance

• Cut off above-ground shoots
• Prick the root ball with the spade
• Cut through thicker rhizomes with the axe
• Get the root ball out of the ground, cut larger ones with a reciprocating saw beforehand
• Excavate and remove all severed rhizomes

Which bamboo is difficult to remove?

Up to 100 square meters - this is the amount of garden space 

that bamboos such as the flat cane bamboo (Phyllostachys), 

but also the broadleaf bamboo (Pseudosasa japonica), 

Sasa, Pleioblastus or Semiarundinaria can easily conquer 

under ideal conditions. For large gardens a beautiful, 

opaque jungle, but completely unsuitable for small gardens.

When removed, bamboo species with a so-called 

leptomorphic growth are really nasty and 

stubborn: not only do they form large and hard root balls, 

they also send a network of long underground runners, s

o-called rhizomes, through the garden. 

These then suddenly reappear somewhere and continue 

growing as new bamboo. Bamboo runners are pointed 

and can damage pond liners or house insulation and do not even stop at neighboring gardens.

If you plant bamboo with leptomorphic growth, 

then only with special rhizome barriers at least 70 centimeters high. 

Brick tubs or edge stones are by no means escape-proof. 

Bamboo needs a lot of space, the expected final height also 

corresponds approximately to the diameter of the plants. 

Before you remove or destroy the bamboo, check whether 

you can subsequently install a rhizome barrier to keep the 

bamboo in check. In many cases this is the better and easier way, 

because then you only have to dig up and remove 

the bamboo rhizomes that are outside the new barrier.

Which types of bamboo are easy to remove?

Bamboo with so-called pachymorphic growth forms dense clumps and hard, 

protruding root balls, but no rhizomes that can grow for meters. 

If you want to remove or destroy these plants, 

it is much easier - in the worst case, there is the 

threat of an extensive digging action. With large plants, 

this can also be tedious, but it is also done. 

This is true for bamboo such as Borinda, 

umbrella bamboo (Fargesia) or subtropical species such as 

Dendrocalamus, Bambusa or Chusquea, which are not always hardy.

Removing bamboo: step by step

• First cut off all above-ground shoots. Some of the straight shoots can still be used as support rods for other plants. 
• Prick around the root ball with a spade and expose as much of the root ball as possible. Cut through the stronger, hard rhizomes with an axe. 
• Remove the root ball from the soil. With large specimens this can only be done in partial steps. You will need a saw to cut the root ball. Knives or spades are completely overstrained with the hard roots, the root balls are firm and matted. Do not use a chain saw, it will become dull immediately if it comes into contact with soil. Ideal are reciprocating saws, which have no problem with soil. For large and particularly stubborn specimens, you can also use a jack with planks underneath to lift the root ball out of the ground. 
• You should collect, dig up and remove all - and that really means all - parts of the plant, roots and rhizome pieces. Bamboo rots very slowly on the compost. It is best to dispose of the remains with the household waste or take the bamboo to the nearest composting plant. If it is allowed, you can also burn the leftovers in the garden.

Some rework will be necessary. If a few new shoots appear, 

do not dig after every runner, you will often still multiply 

the bamboo instead of destroying it. 

Cut off the new shoots continuously and directly above the ground or 

drive over them again and again with a lawn mower. 

At some point, even the biggest sprout will give up if it can no longer 

form leaves. To sprout, it must make use of the stored nutrients, 

which are slowly running out. 

When they have no more energy, the rhizomes simply rot in the soil.