Bamboo is a popular garden plant for people living in cities as it grows quickly, is very hardy and provides natural screening from nosy neighbours.
But experts say bamboo is an invasive plant that spreads rapidly and can damage houses, much like the notorious Japanese knotweed. It might provide a natural screening from nosy neighbours, but its rhizomes are capable of spreading up to a whopping 30ft (ten metres) if left unattended.
Now, experts are calling for the popular garden plant bamboo to be sold with a warning, after its shoots have been found damaging walls and buildings.
Its destructive ability and durability make it a risky choice for a domestic garden and also make it difficult and expensive to remove.
Pictured, a bamboo planted outside a person’s house and in their garden spread so forcefully that it breached the external walls and then sprouted vertically through the skirting board and up the internal wall
According to Nic Seal, founder of Environet, bamboo sales have soared during the pandemic, with enquiries from customers doubling in the past 12 months. “The fact is that most bamboos are invasive, and I expect they would be a good deal less popular if gardeners were given the facts at point of sale,” he said in the press release.
He added, “But once it’s on the run, the only way to deal with it properly is to excavate the root ball and dig out every lateral rhizome, which often means chasing them across boundaries into neighboring gardens. I’ve even seen bamboo growing up between the skirting board and wall of a house, having encroached beneath the patio from next door’s garden and exploited a weakness in the property’s foundations.”
According to AWM, Kate Saunders planted bamboo on her South West London property after consulting with a plant expert. Nevertheless, she was not able to stop it from spreading throughout her property.
“I’d advise anyone considering planting bamboo to think twice and only plant it in pots or containers above-ground,” Saunders warned. “And be prepared to do a lot of maintenance to control it.”
Source: AWM
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