Bamboo and damage
 

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

http://tinypic.com/r/22hmz5/7


Might this situation result in excessive moisture absorption by the bamboo
resulting in movement to the foundations?

Bamboo and damage
 

Dave East wrote:
This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

http://tinypic.com/r/22hmz5/7


Might this situation result in excessive moisture absorption by the bamboo
resulting in movement to the foundations?



It apparently unusual for bamboo roots to go deeper than 12", so its
unlikely they will go under the foundations.

Trees are far more dangerous - willows in particular.

I would not worry.

Bamboo and damage
 

On 24/08/2011 12:08, Dave East wrote:
This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

http://tinypic.com/r/22hmz5/7


Might this situation result in excessive moisture absorption by the bamboo
resulting in movement to the foundations?

Probably not is is quite shallow rooted. Nice clump of bamboo BTW.
Not really rampant either some species can grow to 20' or more.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Bamboo and damage
 

On Aug 24, 12:08*pm, "Dave East" wrote:
This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

Bamboo and damage
 

On Aug 24, 12:51*pm, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:08*pm, "Dave East" wrote:

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. *This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

I had bamboo roots go through 4" of a concrete pond once.

Jonathan

Bamboo and damage
 

In article , Roberts wrote:

I am surprised at the answers unless there are different types of bamboo. I
had to go down to 2' 6" and I still broke the main root off. ...

There are :-)

I am surprised at your reference to "the main root", as a taproot is
not normally something that any grass has.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Bamboo and damage
 

"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
On Aug 24, 12:51 pm, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:08 pm, "Dave East" wrote:

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936
terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam
and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

I had bamboo roots go through 4" of a concrete pond once.

Jonathan
I am surprised at the answers unless there are different types of bamboo. I
had to go down to 2' 6" and I still broke the main root off. They drink a
considerable amount of water and their roots will go through almost anything
and this is in southern England. In the tropics they are capeable of growing
1' in a night. It was a favourite torture of the Japs to stake out people
over a growing bamboo shoot. So unless you want it for a privacy screen get
rid of it or have it far away from any buildings
I gave mine to a workmate who lives on an island in the Thames. It stops the
island getting smaller and stops nosey people on boats looking in
Robbie

Bamboo and damage
 

On 24/08/2011 16:23, Jonathan wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:51 pm, Andy wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:08 pm, "Dave wrote:

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936 terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

I had bamboo roots go through 4" of a concrete pond once.

Mine is contained by wavy plastic lawn edging driven in until flush to
the ground.

Colin Bignell

Bamboo and damage
 

On 24/08/2011 17:51, wrote:
In , wrote:

I am surprised at the answers unless there are different types of bamboo. I
had to go down to 2' 6" and I still broke the main root off. ...

There are :-)

A great many species of bamboo - although comparatively few will grow
well in the UK. All of mine died last winter when the sudden onset of
snow and frost occurred before they went dormant. Being an optimist I
haven't dug them out yet but there is no sign of life at all :(

I am surprised at your reference to "the main root", as a taproot is
not normally something that any grass has.

Some of the tropical and subtropical bamboos that go really tall to 40'
or so tend to be deeper rooted but I can't see them doing too well in
London. Root/rhizomes a couple of feet down and still fairly thick I can
believe in the taller growing varieties that will survive in the UK.

Regards,
Martin Brown

I guess there are perhaps only a 100 or so species you can grow here, but that is a small proportion of the bamboos in the world... Although there is only a handful of species commonly sold here unless you go to the real specialists.

I guess by "the main root" he just meant "a really thick bit of rhizome I found".

I'm surprised you lost your bamboos, Martin, I've not heard of many people losing bamboos, with the exception of a few connoisseur species known to be borderline. Most of the species grown here, Fargesias, Phyllostachyses Pseudosasa, are very hardy. Even my rather less hardy Thamnocalamus didn't mind last winter, though it got its tips a bit burned. Or maybe you are somewhere normally very mild that had a very sudden transition from mild to very cold last December.

Bamboo and damage
 

"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 24/08/2011 16:23, Jonathan wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:51 pm, Andy wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:08 pm, "Dave wrote:

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936
terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam
and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

I had bamboo roots go through 4" of a concrete pond once.

Mine is contained by wavy plastic lawn edging driven in until flush to the
ground.

Colin Bignell

Thanks for interesting information. The sister of the plant I dug out has
now reached about 20' after growing through a tarmac path. In removing the
other one it was neccessary to winch it out as the main root was way below
2'6". The main root when removed was too heavy to lift. I hope Colin does
not have the same species of bamboo!
Robbie

Bamboo and damage
 

On 25/08/2011 12:44, Roberts wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 24/08/2011 16:23, Jonathan wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:51 pm, Andy wrote:
On Aug 24, 12:08 pm, "Dave wrote:

This rampant bamboo is growing to within a few feet of this 1936
terraced
house which is built on ground which has the top 12 inches being Loam
and
then Clay below that.

Bamboo is a problem for being invasive, but much less so for
structural damage. Its roots are relatively flimsy and shallow, not
like tree roots, so they don't do much for levering apart pipe joints
or masonry. This also means that they're pretty easy to control,
either with shallow buried barrier fences or just by grubbing them
out. Really I don't know why gardeners complain about bamboo invasions
at all, they're really quite easy to deal with. The best thing for
digging them is a Japanese root chopping sickle (Axminster) - a small
serrated sickle, great for bamboo and smaller brambles. Favourite
garden gadget at the moment.

A bamboo will extract moisture, and if you extract enough moisture
from clay, then you get shrinkage and possibly movement. However if
you have a layer of loam over clay, I'd be really surprised (but check
first) if the bamboo was rooting into the clay, rather than preferring
to stay in the surface layer.

I had bamboo roots go through 4" of a concrete pond once.

Mine is contained by wavy plastic lawn edging driven in until flush to the
ground.

Colin Bignell

Thanks for interesting information. The sister of the plant I dug out has
now reached about 20' after growing through a tarmac path. In removing the
other one it was neccessary to winch it out as the main root was way below
2'6". The main root when removed was too heavy to lift. I hope Colin does
not have the same species of bamboo!

Probably not. The wavy bit of plastic has kept it in place for the best
part of a decade and a half and, when I lifted some to make room for a
shed, the roots were only a few inches deep.

Colin Bignell