Bamboo is evil :) (or atleast hard to eradicate, if at all possible).

If you have read my posts before pertaining to bamboo, you probably know by now it is like a weed. For some ungodly reason it's classified as a grass, but it's the hardest wood I've ever had to cut down. (well, I am lying, mostly Doug cuts it with a machete).
(Below photos are from our yard):








I on the other hand? I mow them over as they pop up. They are pretty much impossible to get rid of. No herbicide kills them, no amount of cutting down kills the rhizomes, burning doesn't do a thing, NOTHING HELPS. Of course the bamboo society recommended cutting down all the mother plants (good luck finding that when we have thousands behind our yard etc). So the plan is to cut it all down, and starve the rhizomes. They say you have to be vigilant or it will not go away.

I personally find this to be the biggest nightmare as a home owner (yard wise). Bamboo is so hardy it grows through ANYTHING. It has grown through a HUGE oak tree log laying in the back and split it right in half. When we had a big pool up one year it grew right through the liner with thousands of gallons of water pressure a top it.

When you read that bamboo is sustainable, they aren't lying (whomever they are). Bamboo is a beast! THANKFULLY for us it only seems to grow during one and a half seasons. (I can't remember) I am pretty sure it started late spring and ends mid summer. All I know is in fall and winter it isn't growing. THANK YOU, LORD :)

One week I ran over 100 culms of baby bamboo canes.

Two days later there were 100 more.

3 days later there were 60.

Bamboo is crazy!

Today Doug chopped down a ton of the large stalks in our yard.

We are planning to see if anyone will buy them for a buck a pop off craigslist. (make lemons out of lemonaide right)? I mean I see canes of bamboo bundled in fives for ten bucks at target. Our canes are HUGE in comparison.

Either way, I just want it gone. We plan to take down all stalks in our yard, this way as they grow we can just keep mowing them down. Unfortunatley for us, we will never control the rhizomes since the canes are now behind our property and in a neighbors yard.

Dear readers, whatever you do, before buying a home, get an inspection, note if there are any bamboo canes cut, and STEER CLEAR! It's a nightmare. We were duped as the previous owners withheld this from us and did not disclose it.

My only concern is if it will grow in the crawlspace. Preventative measures say to dig and pour a concrete barrier, and as much work as it is? Well, it's worth it and we may do that to save the house from bamboo. If it can grow through a tree log, a huge pool filled with water, who is to say if god forbid it gets in the crawlspace it won't grow through pipes or subfloor? I pray that isn't the case, but the stuff is pretty insane.

Wish us luck!

Catching up.

I don't think I even blogged on Easter. *yikes*!! At anyrate, I hope you all had a fabulous Easter! I helped the kids dye easter eggs. We did glitter this year. It was, erm, a mess of sorts. But, the eggs came out goreous and sparkley, SEE:



The kids were up bright and early. Ethan still fit into his last years outfit so he wore it again (what can I say? I am cheap, and don't like to waste?) lol

Ethan, as usual, is more interested in his sister's things. The Easter Bunny decided a toy for each was better than a bunch of candy. So Ethan got his beloved Thomas trains, and MiMi some play makeup.

Yep, my hardwords are torn up, I need to sand and refinish them at some point. I have too many other projects in the meantime though.

It's been a very long week. I mean VERY. The bamboo in our yard is getting out of hand. (thanks previous owners for hiding the fact you had a bamboo problem). We bought the house in the fall when the bamboo ceases to grow. That spring we were in for some kind of aweful surprise when we had 100 baby canes over night. We've been battling the 'boo' for near 7 years now.

Saturday, Doug ran over 65ish canes. (and you will want to run them over with the mower before they get too big, it's easier to lawn mow them than cut them with a machete once they harden). Three days later I ran over 100 :( No lie, I counted each one. :( It's a mess.

The stuff grows all kinds of crazy like. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but if you have the wrong kind it gets out of control, it is impossible to kill. IMPOSSIBLE. Now that it has spread to the properties behind us, we will never eradicate it. It's a nightmare.

Here is a beautiful cane from my yard I photographed:

and here is a video I took to show you how many baby canes sprout in just a few days.

To give you an idea, those tiny baby bamboo culms you are seeing in my video grew overnight, it takes 4 days for them to become a full shoot taller than 6 foot and two weeks to become taller than a 1.5 story home. It's nuts! It grows every two days, you have to mow it constantly or it will get out of hand.

So, that is my nightmare as a home owner. If anyone has experience with running bamboo or how to TRULY eradicate it (I don't want advice unless you've battled it yourself) because we have tried everything, and so far nothing works. But if you know, please feel free to comment, I would super appreciate any helpful advice :)