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Bamboo can become difficult to control when underground rhizomes spread beyond the original planting area. Tree Masters Hertfordshire provides bamboo removal throughout Hertfordshire.
Call 07388 094829 for a quotation, or message us on WhatsApp.
Bamboo Removal Services
- Removal of unwanted bamboo growth
- Rhizome clearance
- Clearing spreading bamboo from beds and borders
- Bamboo removal before landscaping
- Bamboo removal as part of garden clearance
- Preparation for turfing after clearance
Running Bamboo and Clumping Bamboo
Almost everything about a bamboo problem comes down to which of the two types is in the garden, and most people have never been told there is a difference.
- Clumping bamboo spreads slowly outwards from where it was planted, widening a few centimetres a year. It stays roughly where you put it and is usually a manageable garden plant
- Running bamboo sends out horizontal underground stems — rhizomes — that travel well away from the parent clump before sending up new canes. This is the one that appears in a lawn, through a border, under a fence, up through gravel or beside a patio several metres from where anybody planted anything
If new canes are coming up at a distance from the original clump, it is a running type and cutting the visible canes will not resolve it.
Why Cutting It Down Does Not Work
The canes are the part you can see; the rhizome system is the plant. Cut the canes and the rhizomes remain, fully able to send up new growth — often more vigorously, because the plant responds to losing its top growth. A bamboo problem that has been cut back repeatedly for several years is usually larger underground than it was at the start.
Dealing with it properly means getting the rhizome system out, which is excavation rather than cutting. That is why bamboo removal is quoted separately from general clearance: it is a different kind of work with a different amount of ground disturbance.
Where It Has Spread To
Three things need establishing before the work can be priced sensibly, and all three are about extent rather than the plant itself:
- How far it has travelled. Follow the newest canes outward — they mark the current edge, not the original planting
- What it has gone under or into. Rhizomes run under paths, decking, sheds, patios and fences, and can come up through gravel and thin tarmac. What is above them affects how much can be reached
- Whether it has crossed a boundary. Either direction. This is worth knowing before work starts, not during it
The honest position on boundaries: bamboo is not covered by the specific legal regime that applies to Japanese knotweed. It is an ordinary garden plant in law. That said, spreading growth crossing a boundary has been treated as a nuisance in principle, so where bamboo is moving between properties it is far better raised as a conversation with the neighbour early than left to become a dispute.
Barriers, and What They Can and Cannot Do
A proper rhizome barrier — a heavy-gauge membrane set vertically to a sufficient depth, with the top edge left proud of the soil so rhizomes can be seen if they try to go over it — will contain a running bamboo that is planted inside it from the start.
What a barrier will not do is fix an established spread. Putting one in around a clump that has already travelled simply divides the problem into two problems. Where bamboo is being kept rather than removed, the barrier goes in after the existing rhizomes have been cleared from the area being protected.
Disposal
Bamboo rhizome regrows readily from fragments, so the material is taken away rather than composted on site or moved to another part of the garden. The same applies to any soil that is heavily full of rhizome.
Bamboo Removal Advice Centre
Our advice centre answers the questions Hertfordshire property owners ask before arranging this kind of work.
Bamboo Removal — Specific Jobs
Each of these has its own page covering what the work involves and what drives the price.
Bamboo Removal Across Hertfordshire
Every town below has its own bamboo removal page covering the ground conditions, property types and access that shape the work there.
Other Tree Masters Hertfordshire Services
Bamboo Removal Frequently Asked Questions
Do you remove bamboo throughout Hertfordshire?
Yes.
Do you deal with rhizomes?
Yes, rhizome clearance can form part of the work.
Can you remove bamboo before turfing?
Yes, where suitable.
Can bamboo removal be part of a garden clearance?
Yes.
Can you help with badly spreading bamboo?
Yes. Contact us with photos and details.
Do you provide quotes?
Yes.
Do you cover rental properties?
Yes.
What should I send for a quotation?
Photos and the property location are helpful.
Can you clear the area afterwards?
Garden clearance can be discussed as part of the job.
How do I contact you?
Call 07388 094829.
Get a Quote for Bamboo Removal
Tell us what needs doing across Hertfordshire and we will quote for the work. Call 07388 094829, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.