CompactTractorFan
Super Member
There are basically two types of bamboo, spreading and clumping. You must have the spreading kind and you will only get rid of it by digging up the rizomes. That is how it spreads. You can't chop it up with a tiller and get rid of it, that would just spread the roots. If you dig out all the roots that you can find it will thin it out, but you wont find them all and some will inevitible come back.You could spray it with tree killer like 2-4-D (dont know if you can buy that without a special license) you can get rid of it.
If you can lay your hands on some of it, you have to be extremely carefull as it will kill all trees and it only takes a few drops to damage or kill anything it gets on. I would check with a local horticulturist to see if he would spray it for you. Spreading bamboo and switch cane is hard to kill. In the south we also have Johnson's grass that was imported from Africa that spreads the same way and is hard to kill. IT takes many years of spraying to get rid of it. The commonly available without an applicator's license glyphosphate is mostly for grass and weeds and is so diluted as to be practically worthless except for yard grasses. Again, it might be worth your time to hire a professional to spray it with industrial strength material designed for the bamboo especially if you have a large patch of it.
Thanks for the info, but we don't want to use harsh chemicals.