How to kill an invasive bamboo, I have the answer!!

[miffy]

What seemed like a good idea some years ago to plant a bamboo in the garden turned into a nightmare as the bloomin thing turned into a triffid and tried to take over the garden.
Looked on tut interweb and basically everyone said I was stuffed. Cut off the bamboo canes to the ground cover it with plastic and starve it of light for a 1,000 years or something like that.
Trouble is this bamboo stood in the way of my plans for raised veggie beds, new lawn, fab new water feature etc...
So I called in the A team, my nephew, my son and his two mates.
They brought tools, a pick axe, saws, two axes, lots of brute force and a whole day later that bamboo is totalled. The hole where it used to reside is three feet by six feet and three feet deep!! They loved it and are coming back tomorrow to dig over the garden ready for the new lawn.
So if you want to get rid of bamboo get yourself some twenty year olds supply them with chocolate, crisps and some medieval style tools and they will sort it.
BOY POWER!

[Aberdeenplotter]

Miffy, you are on a winner. Hire them out.

[bearded bloke]

Miffy, you are on a winner. Hire them out.

Bet we can keep them busy on .... Royal Weeeeeding Day :

[BigShot]

Are you anywhere near Manchester?
I've got a plot covered in grass, weeds and a few tree roots that I'm trying to clear.

[miffy]

They are superstars and they even missed a footie match to work with me the following day! They would be good to hire out that is a bloomin good idea. We live in Warwickshire though Big Shot so sorry too far away, though there are trains!

[snohare]

What a shame you are so far away, sounds like your guys are just what a friend of mine needs.
She has a rockery infested with rosebay willowherb. Not badly - yet. I reckon it simply needs all the stones removed, then the rhizomes dug out, which would be not too bad a job at the moment. Alas, she is small and not muscular, her hubby is not currently fit and too busy besides. The Beechgrove Garden team are coming...but just to plant up a nearby wall with herbs !
Never mind hiring themselves out, if they really like doing that sort of thing they are naturals for doing conservation work with BTCV and the like.

[Babru]

Did it stay dead?

What seemed like a good idea some years ago to plant a bamboo in the garden turned into a nightmare as the bloomin thing turned into a triffid and tried to take over the garden.
Looked on tut interweb and basically everyone said I was stuffed. Cut off the bamboo canes to the ground cover it with plastic and starve it of light for a 1,000 years or something like that.
Trouble is this bamboo stood in the way of my plans for raised veggie beds, new lawn, fab new water feature etc...
So I called in the A team, my nephew, my son and his two mates.
They brought tools, a pick axe, saws, two axes, lots of brute force and a whole day later that bamboo is totalled. The hole where it used to reside is three feet by six feet and three feet deep!! They loved it and are coming back tomorrow to dig over the garden ready for the new lawn.
So if you want to get rid of bamboo get yourself some twenty year olds supply them with chocolate, crisps and some medieval style tools and they will sort it.
BOY POWER!

I have the same problem in my new garden, which is fully paved but has four 'hedges' of bamboo in the middle, Japanese style. We've been digging out the roots (like massive clumps of wire), and plan to put down plastic for a bit, maybe 12 months and then look to see if anything looks alive.

My question is - did your bamboo stay dead once you got the team in?

[Small pumpkin]

Don't think you're going to get an answer anytime soon from miffy. They've not been on the vine since 2011
Unfortunately I can't help. But someone will probably be along soon that can.

[bramble]

I had the same problem.
Planted 2 bamboo in my front garden and years later decided I wanted rid of thrm as ithey took over.
I tried everything but in the end I had to get a guy with a small digger to dig them out.

[Babru]

I had the same problem.
Planted 2 bamboo in my front garden and years later decided I wanted rid of thrm as ithey took over.
I tried everything but in the end I had to get a guy with a small digger to dig them out.

We can't get a digger in, or we would have done. My husband is using a small jack hammer to cut the roots so we can haul them out. The shame is, they were planted through weed suppressant which is inextricably tangled with the roots, so it has to go to landfill at the tip, not garden waste.

Once they were dug out, did you cover the area and wait to see if it regrew, or was that it, job done? I'd love to get on with making a decent garden from the concrete and bamboo desert, but can't put beds in till I'm sure it's gone.

[bramble]

It was a job done.
It never 're grew.
The space now has dahlias growing in it.
Hope you get yours sorted.