On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 06:03:29 -0800 (PST), Elliott P
wrote:
On Feb 8, 6:14*pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 2/8/12 1:18 PM, John Simpson wrote:
If you're in MD, your 'bamboo' is most likely Japanese Knotweed.
It's REAL tough to get rid of!
JAS
Both Wikipedia and Sunset's "Western Garden Book" indicate that Japanese
knotweed is Persicaria capitata. *This is a ground cover that, in my
garden, forms a mat about 6 inches thick. *Through most (sometimes all)
of the year, it has small clusters of pink flowers that resemble the
flowers of white clover. *For that reason, P. capitata is also called
pink clover although it is definitely not a clover at all.
However, Wikipedia also indicates that Japanese knotweed is also
Fallopia japonica (aka, Polygonum cuspidatum or Reynoutria japonica).
This indeed grows like a bamboo to 10 or more feet high. *If this is
really what Elliott P has, a grass-specific herbicide will not work
because Fallopia japonica is not at all a grass.
All this illustrates the fact that many different, unlike plants often
share the same common name. *This is why I try to use botanical names
when possible. *This also illustrates why the plant should be positively
identified before any attempt to eradicate it. *If a neighbor was
correct in reporting that this was cut for feeding pandas at a nearby
zoo, however, this must be a bamboo and not F. japonica.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: *California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary
David and others,
I uploaded several pictures I happen to have of the questionable
plants to my Dropbox account. You can see the gallery he
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/27454...amboo?h=d5ab39
I took these before posting this, therefore I don't have any close ups
of the leaves really. The first shows a fox I found running in there.
The next four are various angles, where you can see how massive these
are. There are also some in the snow, and then one showing how a large
tree has fallen among the bamboo causing some damage.
I'll take more when time and daylight allows.
Your property looks completely overgrown with all kinds of vegetation.
To get rid of that bamboo you are going to have to till deep and rake
out the roots. I suggest you obtain a dozer, bamboo stumps will
pierce tractor tires. You have a lot of work to do over the next few
years... you are not going to get rid of that bamboo in one season,
probably take five years of constant attention. Consider yourself
lucky it's not on a slope. After cutting it to the ground the first
thing I'd do is hire someone with a backhoe to dig a trench around the
entire perimeter, deep and wide. Once the bamboo is eradicated I
suggest seriously considering installing a 2 acre pond. Anyone who
plants bamboo, any kind, is an imbecile.
http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/ou...rid-of-bamboo/
http://www.completebamboo.com/bamboo_removal.html