What to do with bamboo

Hi, My name is Kathy and I am totally new to tropical gardening. A year ago I purchased my little piece of paradise on Pine Island FL. It will be my winter home when I retire, and I will be able to get out of the cold WI winter!
My question is what can you do with bamboo to controll it. (or can you) When I first looked at this place in Feb. of 2008, I was so excited to see bamboo growing behind my shed. When you've lived your whole life in a cold climate anything tropical is so exciting!

But, 2 yrs later the bamboo has spread and gotten huge. It is growing and weaving into 4 strands of electrical wires. My neighbor is telling me I have to cut it before a wind storm comes and the bamboo knocks out everyones power. I know I have to do something but, after reading online, it sounds like it will just keep sprouting. (seems to be the running kind) Besides I really like it, it's so graceful and beautiful.
Anyone have any suggestions? I will be going there for 8 days in Jan. and really need to address this problem.

Attaching pic of what it looked like 2 yrs ago...

There's two basic types of bamboo, the clumping tropicals and the running cooler climate ones. Any bamboo is difficult to get out without resorting to earthmoving equipment. But the running type can be a real nightmare. All mine are clumpers and have been planted well away from anywhere they could become a problem. But as far as the running type go, you can think you have all the runners out and then find some more coming up elsewhere. The new shoots break off easily so you need to do that until you can get the main part of the plant dug out. And it's better to do that sooner rather than later.

HI tropicbreeze,

I use the small pole bamboos for accent. I think what I have is the clumping type, as you can see in the picture. I wonder, however, how thick can a clumper get, and how do make yours manageable in size.

Thanks.
Balaitalisai

Thank you Tropic breeze, Pretty sure mine is the running kind as it is spreading out all over. I just wish it wasn't in such a bad spot, with the wires being there.

So, I understand if you cut it, it will just sprout more? jeeesh, and to think I was so happy to see I had bamboo....

Here is how I control mine.
When the new shoots first spear through the ground ...you cut off the top and within a couple of minutes drip a couple of drops of neat "Round Up" into the hollow centre. The new young spears should be cut when just a few inches tall and while they are soft.
The bamboo sucks it down very quickly. This will kill a lot of the spears straight back to the "mother clump."
If rain is coming cover the end with an upturned plastic cup and leave overnight.
I have kept mine to a neat clump this way ... just work on the escaped shoots.
I love my bamboo but control it that way.

Thank you Chrissy, for the good advice. I will try that. I'm glad to hear just a couple of drops of round-up will work. I hate to use that if I don't have to.

The plus side is; I can find all kinds of uses for the bamboo I have had to cut :)

So do I ... but it is only going into the bamboo ...I have plenty of frogs so I don't think there is any harm done ...try for a warm dry day it works very quickly that way. :)

Balaitalisai, I have several species/varieties of bamboo, all of them clumping. Most were here when I bought the property about 7 years ago. I've never had to control any of them in that time other than to occasionally kick over a new shoot when walking past. I only cut them when I need a bamboo pole (or sometimes people ask for some).

The best of them is one that forms a very tight clump, new shoots grow back into the clump and branches don't develop below 4 or 5 metres from the ground. It growing about 12 - 14 metres high and looks really nice. The culms never fall over even in strong winds.

They'd make a great fence, nothing could get through them. And I find the culms useful as they are strong, unlike most of my other bamboos. I have no idea which species it is, I'm not good on IDs for bamboos.

You can see in the photo the very light clump and straight culms, and that's without any maintenance for 7 years.

I have the fishing poll variety of running bamboo. In the cleared parts of my property I mow down any new runners that pop up. It seems to keep them down. You will never completely irradiate it. You just learn to live with it and manage it.

Here in Hawaii we make fishing poles out of the bamboo and fish in the rivers. Otherwise I have used the cut sections of bamboo as garden stakes.

Why not harvest the new bamboo shoots, remove the tough outer covering, chop into small strips, then feed to goats or cattle? I suppose the animals will not come to any harm since I've never heard of any kind of bamboo being poisonous? If you chop off a new shoot you actually kill it, so there is no need to use herbicide. Of course, other shoots will continue to come out of the mother clump.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2010 8:42 PM

I would love to harvest the bamboo shoots. I have heard they are edible. But, I'm in WI now and the bamboo is in FL. I bought this property for a winter home when I retire and still have a couple of years to go.

I will be there for a week again in Jan. and I will break off any new shoots then. I think I will have the electric co. cut the big ones. I would like to have them do it while I'm there so I can keep the bamboo and do something with it.

Can't wait to get down there again! Winter has set in here we got a big snowstorm last weekend and it is cold! brrrrrr

Looking at the photo, that bamboo clump will really cause trouble for the electric wires overhead...I suggest you have it removed (you'll need a strong person to help with that). The entire root clump must be removed to make sure the bamboo will not re-sprout. Separate one or two bamboo poles with their roots attached from the main clump, then plant them in another area of your garden where they can't cause trouble.