Bamboo is stringy but not very hard. A “lopper”, which looks like scissors with huge handles and a little jaw, cuts it much better than a saw. Cut the bamboo down in late winter so that you can be applying to herbicide on the new growth in late spring or early summer.
Rhizomes are masses of roots that grow underground. These root-stalks grow horizontally underground in clumps and then send new shoots up beyond the surface when the plant is ready to grow. You probably recognize rhizomes if you’ve ever eaten ginger and galangal, or have seen raw turmeric. These roots with many offshoots are what the underground rhizomes of the bamboo plant should look like.
To reduce the risk of killing the wrong plant or over-spraying, you can paint the herbicide onto leaves and stalks with a brush instead of spraying the plant. If you’re near a water supply (river, lake, ocean, etc. ) make sure that you’re using an herbicide that’s meant for eradicating plants near water. You don’t want to contaminate nearby bodies of water.
When using any kind of herbicide, remember to consult instructions that come with packaging. Some herbicide instructions may differ significantly from the advice offered in this tutorial. When push comes to shove, defer to instructions that come with the herbicide product. You should also use this herbicide method in conjunction with rooting out the rhizomes of the bamboo so that it doesn’t keep sending up shoots.
You will want to cut down the clumps, but you’ll also want to root out the rhizomes, otherwise the beast will keep growing. Rhizomes grow in the top foot of soil, so you’ll want to dig down until you find them. Sever the rhizomes as you go, especially if you want to keep some of the bamboo plant. This will keep it from sending out more shoots. Keep cutting it down and digging it out. You will need to do this until the bamboo plant stops sending up shoots. This can take months or even years to accomplish, but there isn’t a faster way, because bamboo is so pervasive and resistant. If you want to eradicate bamboo on your property, you must remove all rhizomes.
Mowing the bamboo frequently can reduce the rhizomes, because it takes away their way of collecting food (from the sun through their leaves). You will have to mow whenever you see stalks arising because this method can take a while.
Anchor the tarp or plastic down. People tend to use cinder blocks, but anything heavy enough to keep the tarp down will work fine. You have to make sure that the plastic or tarp does not move because the point is to cut the bamboo off from the elements. If you get new growth coming up beyond the perimeter of the tarp, you’ll need to immediately either spray it with herbicide (containing triclopyr) or cut it down and put a cinder block or another tarp over the area. Again, this can take a while, so you have to be patient. Leave the tarp there for at least a month or so (but it can take up to a year to really eradicate the bamboo).
If you’re in a DIY sort of mood, you can make the barrier from concrete, metal, or plastic. Any of them are good. Be aware that rhizomes may be able to travel through wood. Its use is discouraged. One really effective and highly used material is a high-density polypropylene — 40 mils or heavier. This sort of specialized bamboo barrier usually costs between $3 and $4 per foot, depending on the material and thickness. If setting up a barrier along a fence, place it directly alongside the fence, with about 2 inches (5. 1 cm) of barrier above ground. An open-sided barrier will require annual root pruning to contain the bamboo.
Again, make sure that at least 2 inches (5. 1 cm) of the barrier is visible above the ground because this will allow you to detect any rhizomes trying to escape over the sides.
