Getting Rid of Your Unwanted Bamboo Growth
If you have a garden area that you like to keep neatly trimmed, any kind of unwanted growth can be incredibly annoying-particularly if it is the kind of plant that will not go away. Some growths are much more hardy than others, including bamboo.
Bamboo is a very durable plant, which likes to spread very rapidly, and very broadly. Getting rid of it can sure be a pain.
If you do not want to use any kind of harmful herbicides or chemicals, there are natural ways of removing the plant, though they may be a little bit harder. Even for professional gardeners, getting rid of bamboo plants-specifically, a “running” one, as opposed to the tamer “clumping” bamboos, is one of the toughest problems known to gardeners and landscapers.
In general, there are three different natural ways to address the issue. Digging is the first one that is met with an amount of success.
This tactic may work for a small stand of the plant, but is problematic for larger stands. They can become quite thick, after all.
Pick a shoot to start with, and begin digging gingerly around the base. After you have loosened the soil enough to wiggle the plant, tug at it gently.
You want to try to pull up as much of the plant and its rhizome system as possible with your tug, as opposed to just ripping it out and leaving a lot of the rhizomes behind. If you do not get it all, it will just come back with a vengeance.
When you have done your best in that area, move onto another shoot, until you have taken them all out of the soil. Chances for success using this method will be enhanced if the soil is moist, so water the affected area beforehand, as much as you can.
Even if you are successful, there will inevitably still be rhizomes left behind in the soil. So carefully excavate down and around your original hole, in pursuit of those fugitives stalks that can grow back,
It may help to have a sifter, so that you can sift through the soil as you inspect it to locate the rhizomes. It can become a kind of game if you wish it to.
Any fraction left behind now will result in a new shoot later, thus mocking your efforts to get rid of plant. You will probably have to repeat the process many times, which is irritating, but will be effective eventually.
The next method for ridding yourself of these things is to use tarps and barriers. This will smother out the unwanted stalks.
However, note that it still may be able to outflank the tarps, by spreading beyond their perimeters. Therefore, employing tarps can result in the plant popping up somewhere else in the yard-something you want to avoid.
In order to prevent such a result, consider using the tarp tactic in conjunction with burying barriers. That is, many people keep them contained by sinking plastic barriers into the ground all around them, effectively fencing them in.
Barriers should run about thirty inches deep. Make sure a couple of inches of barrier extend above the surface.
Using such a barrier in conjunction with the application of a tarp makes sense: the two tactics complement each other. This is another effective way to make sure you get the job done right.
Cutting is the last method which has proved to be useful in a natural way. Believe it or not, there is an American Bamboo Society-they recommend this method.
Since their specialty is bamboo, they are probably right. They are the professionals, after all.
To use this method, cut the shoots down. Apply water to the area, and cut down the new crop.
Repeat the process as many times as necessary. Keep doing this until no more shoots come up-this will exhaust the energy stored underground.
Without green leaves to photosynthesize and produce new energy, they will no longer be able to send up new shoots. Anything left behind will rot away until they are gone.
Now you know exactly how to treat this issue. Take care of them right away, and they will not bother you any longer.
Tom Selwick has worked the past 22 years in the lawn care industry. He suggests usingLawn Service Milton for a quality lawn.
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Tom Selwick
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