Dig up unwanted bamboo using a mattock and spade. The pointed mattock will help loosen the tangled rhizomes from the soil and the spade will lift them from the ground. Except in unusual circumstances, bamboo rhizomes do not grow deep in the soil.

Use lopping shears to cut through thick rhizomes. Make sure to remove every bit of rhizome or the bamboo will come back stronger than before. Starve plants to death by cutting off all new growth before it reaches 2 feet in height. Bamboo needs to photosynthesize, just like any other plant.

Pour straight glyphosate herbicide directly onto freshly cut stumps. Systemic herbicides are favored over contact killers in the removal of bamboo. Keep in mind that once the plants are dead, you still have to dig them out of the ground. They are much easier to dig when alive. Do not compost bamboo. It will only make it mad. Even the smallest piece of rhizome will grow if given the slightest opportunity.

heck with the 'bamboo' forum for help in determining just which kind of bamboo you have. While some (maybe most) do spread and can be difficult to get rid of, there are also 'clumping' and slow-growing varieties which do not pose as much of a problem in most areas.
The only sure (?) way of eradication seems to be pulling it up by the roots (easier to do when the ground is saturated) and, considering that some varieties have rhizomes/roots a couple feet deep, even that may not work. In smaller areas, you can smother them (eventually) with a barrier (plastic, steel, or similar nonpermeable material) topped with about 15" of soil or mulch - but they sometimes will creep underground until they get past the smothering area and *then* send up shoots.




Lookingglassgarden,if your DH is determined to plant bamboo, Please have him thoroughly check out the how-to's. VA & MD are sufficiently sub-tropical that weather alone does not deter or limit spread of most varieties. If he wants a spreading type, please surround the growing bed with an impermeable steel or concrete barrier at least 30" deep to prevent unwanted shoots - and I've heard of some varieties going through concrete. I love bamboo, but I don't grow it because of the high potential for problems. 10 years ago my neighbor planted a clumping slow-grower "contained" by a deep concrete pipe about 4' wide (one of those road drainage pipes). She is presently trying to get rid of the bamboo which has spread (in deep shade) across her back yard and is working it's way uphill to her house.