How to Control and Remove Bamboo in Your Yard and Lawn

First, identify what you have

Not all bamboo spreads. Clumping bamboo forms a slowly widening clump and can usually be dealt with by digging it out or removing outer canes. Running bamboo spreads by rhizomes, which are underground stems, and can send up shoots well away from the original plant. Most serious yard problems involve running types. If you are not sure which you have, look for shoots appearing in a scattered pattern some distance from the main stand, which suggests a runner. For the differences, see running vs clumping bamboo.

Expect this to be slow. Extension services and nurseries agree that removing established running bamboo takes persistence, often over several years, because new shoots can come up from any rhizome piece left behind.

Option 1: Dig it out

Digging is the most thorough method and the one most often recommended for small to medium patches.

1. Cut the canes down to the ground. The cut canes can be bagged or kept for garden stakes.
2. Dig out the clump and as much of the rhizome network as you can. Rhizomes of running bamboo are often in the top foot or so of soil, though some can be deeper (see how deep bamboo roots grow). A mattock, digging bar or sturdy steel spade helps. Wooden or fibreglass handles tend to break.
3. Follow the rhizomes. Try to trace each one back and remove it. Soaking the soil first can make digging easier.
4. Bag the waste. Even small pieces can regrow, so avoid scattering fragments around the garden.
5. Check the area through the next growing season and remove any shoots promptly.

Large or old groves may need a mini digger or professional help. Dense, long-established groves have needed machinery in some cases.

Option 2: Cut and starve

If you cannot dig everything out, you can exhaust the plant instead. Bamboo needs its leaves to make the energy that feeds new shoots.

• Cut the canes to the ground.
• When new shoots appear (growth is concentrated in a short spring window for many species), cut or snap them off immediately. Young shoots are soft and break easily.
• Keep removing every new shoot, ideally as soon as it appears, for as long as it takes.

This can take two to three years or longer, and the rhizomes are left to rot in the soil, which makes replanting the area harder in the meantime. When you do replant, non-invasive clumping ornamental grasses are a low-risk choice.

Bamboo in the lawn: mowing and edging

Bamboo shoots in a lawn are easier to manage than a grove, because regular mowing cuts them back repeatedly.

• Mow frequently over the area where shoots are appearing, especially during spring shooting season.
• Mowing alone typically needs two to three years of consistent effort before the bamboo weakens, according to one university extension.
• Pull or cut stray shoots that appear between mowings.
• Edge along the lawn boundary once or twice a year with a spade, cutting through any rhizomes that are heading in.

If the shoots keep coming from a bed or grove next to the lawn, deal with the source as well, or the mowing never ends.

Herbicides: a last resort

Bamboo is notoriously resistant to herbicides, and results vary. If you decide to use one:

• Read and follow the product label exactly, including rules about use near water, desirable plants and mixing strength.
• Extension guidance generally describes glyphosate as having little soil activity, so it affects only plants it contacts. It usually needs repeated applications, and some sources describe a cut-and-paste method of painting concentrated product onto freshly cut stumps.
• Imazapyr is described by one botanical garden as more effective on bamboo but with soil activity that can harm nearby trees, shrubs and grasses.
• One application rarely eradicates bamboo. Plan for several rounds over multiple years.

Ask your local extension office or a licensed applicator about what is approved where you live, especially near water or valued plants. Organic methods such as digging, cutting and mowing avoid these concerns but take effort.

If the bamboo is your neighbour’s

Bamboo from next door crossing the boundary is common. Some practical points:

• Talk to the neighbour first. A shared solution, such as a barrier on their side, is better than a one-sided fight.
• Cut the rhizomes at the boundary. A spade or saw usually works if done every year. Because rhizomes are connected underground, if the neighbour’s part is healthy it can keep supporting rhizomes on your side, so cutting the connection matters.
• Dig a trench and install a barrier along the boundary for a longer-term solution. See how to install a bamboo rhizome barrier.
• Legal responsibility varies. In some places the owner of the bamboo may be held liable if it damages or invades neighbouring property, and some regions regulate running bamboo. Check local rules or take advice if the issue is serious.

Keeping it from coming back

• Barrier: a rigid HDPE rhizome barrier, usually around 30 inches deep with a few inches above ground, is the standard long-term fix. Extension sources suggest a well-installed plastic barrier can last decades, though it still needs yearly checks.
• Pruning trench: a shallow trench around the edge, roughly 8 to 10 inches deep, lets you see and cut rhizomes trying to cross. Check it a couple of times a year.
• Containers: growing running types in pots can work if the pot is large and strong and the base is not sitting on soil. See growing bamboo in pots and containers.
• Choose clumping types for any new planting near a boundary. Our bamboo privacy screen guide explains how.

If you want to know how fast new growth is likely to appear, see does bamboo spread quickly?

What not to expect

• Boiling water may kill shallow shoots but is unlikely to eradicate a whole plant, because the water may not reach all the roots.
• One round of digging rarely gets everything.
• Cutting the canes once does not kill the plant. It will send up new shoots.
• Concrete or wooden barriers are not reliable. Concrete cracks and wood rots.