Bamboo looks lovely for a season or two, then starts appearing in the lawn, under the patio and along the boundary. We remove spreading bamboo from gardens in Monmouth, cutting down the canes and digging out the rhizomes that drive the spread. Larger town gardens with old walls and mature planting can hide a clump that has been running for years.
If you are unsure whether yours is the running or the clumping kind, we can tell you when we look at it. We also cover Rockfield, Dixton, Overmonnow and Trellech, and we take the cut canes and roots away with us so you are not left with a heap.
Running bamboo spreads underground by rhizomes, thick creeping stems that send up new canes some distance from the original plant. A few canes put in beside a fence can end up in a neighbour's border, under a path or pressing against a wall. Clumping types stay tighter, but they still thicken year by year and become hard to shift once they have got a grip.
In Monmouth, where many gardens are generous and have old stone or brick walls, bamboo can push at the base of a wall or lift paving long before anyone notices. The sooner the rhizomes are traced and removed, the less ground has to be opened up, and the less repair work tends to follow once the bamboo has gone. Early action also keeps the bill for any patching small.
In Monmouth we cut the canes down first so we can see what we are dealing with, then dig along the line of the rhizomes and lift them out, following each run until it stops. Roots are removed by hand and with a small digger where access allows, and we work around walls, pipes and drains with care. Cut canes are bundled as we go.
Bamboo can regrow from small fragments left in the soil, which is why shallow digging so often fails. We sift and clear as we go, take all the waste away, and can check back later in the season for any shoots that have come through, so that you can deal with them before they get going again. That second look is simply part of doing the job thoroughly.
Tell us roughly how big the patch is and where it sits, and a few photographs help. We will look at access, how far the rhizomes have run and whether a neighbour's side is affected. In Monmouth, side passages and walled gardens can limit machinery, so some work is done by hand. Once you are happy with the plan, we agree the work and a date.
A few jobs we have completed. We also work in and around Monmouth.
We work across South Wales. Pick your town to see how bamboo removal works locally.
Running bamboo spreads through underground stems called rhizomes, and stopping it means digging them out thoroughly rather than just cutting down the canes.
Read the guide →Spreading bamboo can lift paving, push into wall joints and block drains, so it helps to know which type you have and when to act.
Read the guide →
Tree surgery is priced job by job rather than from a fixed list, so this guide explains what moves the cost up or down and how to get a firm figure.
Read the guide →We can remove what is on your side and trace the rhizomes up to the boundary. For anything on your neighbour's land we would need their agreement. It is worth having that conversation early, because leaving their side alone means the bamboo can simply spread back.
We dig carefully near hard surfaces and take out slabs only where rhizomes run underneath and there is no other way. Often the roots can be followed along the edge. If a few slabs do need lifting, we will say so before we begin.
Cutting alone only gives you regrowth, because the rhizomes keep sending up new canes. Digging out the roots is what actually deals with it. We do both, then check for stray shoots later so nothing is left to take hold again.
Tell us what needs doing and where. We will come back to you, or call 07766 919630 if it is urgent.
