Bamboo Management

Basswood

Basswood

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
Long island
Just bought a house and we have a hedge of bamboo. As much as I’d like to kill it I think I’ll try managing it as it is good privacy. Aside from digging up the rhizomes has anyone found an herbicide that works well but not so systemic that it will kill the whole grove? I was thinking Cheeta pro (glufosinate ammonium)?
 
Yeah I’d like to do a barrier at some point. They are far from the house but I do want to keep them from encroaching much further they are into a nice row of Rhododendron I have. Actually thinking about a paclo application
 
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Repeated mowing at the perimeter might be a good option. How big a patch is it?

I read that stump treatment of bamboo is more effective if applied to the cut immediately after and therefore was not the best control approach. I killed a big patch with repeated mowing to establish a low profile then I did a foliar spray of glyphosate and dicamba. That killed it about 98% and subsequent treatments finished it off.

trench and boundary are good options if tree roots are no concern

I hate bamboo it sucks
 
Oh thanks for noting that, I meant to say diquat! Got my chemicals that start with the letter D confused
 
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Neill said:
Repeated mowing at the perimeter might be a good option. How big a patch is it?

I read that stump treatment of bamboo is more effective if applied to the cut immediately after and therefore was not the best control approach. I killed a big patch with repeated mowing to establish a low profile then I did a foliar spray of glyphosate and dicamba. That killed it about 98% and subsequent treatments finished it off.

trench and boundary are good options if tree roots are no concern

I hate bamboo it sucks
Click to expand...
NE Ohio; Snow belt; ~10 miles S of Lake Erie

Fargesia Rufa - hardy clumping bamboo - Control Spread​

In 2014, I planted a couple "test plants" from Holden Arboretum.

I wasn't sure what "clumping", minimal spreading, meant.​

I later, cut root sections to plant ~ 10 clumps along the drive.

per the Holden plant label:
"This bamboo is a native of China, where it is said to be one of the primary food plants of the giant panda. In gardens it is a well-behaved, non-running plant of dense, arching habit, where it functions as a fine-textured shrub. Fargesia rufa grows at a moderate rate to a mature height and spread of 6-8 feet. It is the most evergreen of the clumping bamboos, and every year more half-inch diameter reddish clumps (stems) emerge from the base. Fargesia rufa is native to forests, and performs best in light to moderate shade, but will also do well in sites with direct sun in the morning or late afternoon. It is adapted to a variety of soil types with average to moist conditions, but drainage must be good."

They are now very well controlled.
The widest is ~ 4 ft; & only 4 ft tall.
 
@GregManning - good point,
Species can make a big difference!
In my example I was working with golden bamboo - phyllostachys aurea . I encounter it fairly frequently around here and it is pretty annoying.

Do you know the species of bamboo you are working with @Basswood
 
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I've got a nice stand of black boo. I use it to make trellis to grow pole lima and green beans. It creeps under the fence into a 15ft section of lawn along the road out front. The county mows that area and it keep the boo from spreading. On the other side the bamboo bed is 20ft x 50ft and I mow the lawn in that area and it keeps the boo from advancing.

I love the stuff.

One of the main problems with boo is that to keep it controlled in the spring and early summer when the new shoots are coming up is the new shoots need to be cut down or pulled every few day up to a week. I can pull a new shoot that is three and more feet tall and 1.5 inches is diameter right out of the boo root system by hand.

Years ago I had a client who lived on the river and had a patch of boo between the street and the river. They had pathways then would keep clear with a riding mower and had alcoves and paths right along the water. It was a beautiful and peaceful place hearing the wind rustling through the boo.

If you just sit back and do nothing of course it spreads badly over time. If you stop cutting your lawn it turns into a forest but I don't see many lawns turning into forest.

Stop beating the boo! :)
 
I have a bottle of sight line (triclypor) and Clearcast (imazamox). My herbicide knowledge is really not up to snuff despite doing a lot of invasive management for a few years (mostly cut stump with glyphosate formulations). Will either of these be decent post emergent treatments, with some systemic activity to keep things at bay without killing the whole patch or off target trees/shrubs in the area? I’m thinking clearcast is my best option. This is non commercial, in my own backyard so I’m not overly worried that the clear cast is an aquatic label.
 
triclopyr can be sprayed in lawns to kill broadleaf weeds and not kill the grass, so I'm doubting it'll be effective against bamboo. No specific knowledge with bamboo to say that definitively, but just a guess. I used plenty of triclopyr for invasive shrub management, so I'm not saying its a bad product...just questioning whether it kills a grass.
 
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ATH said:
triclopyr can be sprayed in laws to kill broadleaf weeds and not kill the grass, so I'm doubting it'll be effective against bamboo. No specific knowledge with bamboo to say that definitively, but just a guess. I used plenty of triclopyr for invasive shrub management, so I'm not saying its a bad product...just questioning whether it kills a grass.
Click to expand...
Yeah this is why I’m thinking it will likely not work. Or perhaps it doesn’t work “as well” to gain the desired outcome?
 
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