by Rainer Hoenicke
Aware of the invasive nature of this species of running bamboo, I installed a 30 foot long corrugated PVC barrier to keep the three bamboo plants from spreading under the fence to our neighbor's yard and into our former veggie garden area. Little did I know then that the bamboo rhizomes would be worse than Audrey II in the cult movie “Little Shop of Horrors.” Within about three years, those three plants had formed a wonderful privacy screen 20-25 feet high. Unfortunately the lower branches of this dense hedge-like barrier was hiding the fact that the yellow bamboo rhizomes had found a way to take root in the new soil formed by decomposing leaf litter and to creep over the root barrier. The invasion of my former veggie-growing area had begun.
Wow, what a job that was. When a plant is designated "invasive" beware!
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Rainer Hoenicke
Information Links:
USDA Forest Service-Weed of the week-invasive Golden Bamboo https://www.invasive.org/weedcd/pdfs/wow/golden-bamboo.pdf
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension-Growing Bamboo https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/bamboo2019.html
UC ANR-Bamboo http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/bamboo.html
Missouri Botanical Garden-Controlling Bamboo
UC IPM- pittosporum http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/pittosporum.html