{"id":46,"date":"2026-09-12T13:26:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/?p=46"},"modified":"2026-09-12T13:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:37:27","slug":"thinking-about-buying-a-home-with-bamboo-read-this-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/plants-weeds\/thinking-about-buying-a-home-with-bamboo-read-this-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking About Buying a Home With Bamboo? Read This First"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Evan Le, Founder of Neat &amp; Tidy Landscaping and Editor of American Landscaping Journal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You found the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Good neighborhood. Good school district. Parking isn&#8217;t bad. The house itself is in decent condition. Maybe it even came in a little below what you expected to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The yard needs some work, but that&#8217;s okay. You&#8217;re buying a house. You already know you&#8217;re going to paint some rooms, fix a few things and probably bring in a landscaper before or after you move in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then you walk into the backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s a tall green hedge along the property line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You&#8217;ve seen bamboo before. You&#8217;ve just never owned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It actually looks pretty nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s green year-round. It&#8217;s tall. The neighbors can&#8217;t see through it. Maybe it&#8217;s a little overgrown, but so is the rest of the yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a couple of bamboo shoots growing outside the hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cut them down. Trim the hedge. Clean everything up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How bad could it be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So you buy the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bamboo-removal-cut-bamboo-stalks-freshly-cut-a4a882c6.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thick dense Bamboo Rhizome during removal process &#8211; Seattle WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Then Spring Comes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few months later, something starts happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s a bamboo shoot in the lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then you notice another one farther away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s one coming up closer to the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You cut one down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another appears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And these things grow fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You look at one on Monday and by Friday you&#8217;re wondering if it&#8217;s doubled in size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s usually when someone starts Googling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then they call somebody like us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We come out, look at the bamboo, look at where the new shoots are appearing and start checking what&#8217;s happening underneath the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that&#8217;s when the conversation changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You didn&#8217;t necessarily buy a house with a bamboo hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may have bought a house with a mature <strong>running bamboo colony underneath the yard.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those are two very different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bamboo-removal-excavator-with-bamboo-pile-freshly-cut-32a9c584.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bamboo Removal with Excavator &#8211; North West Seattle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I See Versions of This All the Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve looked at a lot of bamboo properties around Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some homeowners planted the bamboo themselves 15 or 20 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some inherited it from the previous owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some bought the house knowing perfectly well that bamboo was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s actually an important point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lot of these buyers weren&#8217;t necessarily deceived. Nobody had to hide the fact that there was bamboo growing in the backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They could see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem was that they had no idea what they were actually looking at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s a huge difference between someone telling you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThere&#8217;s bamboo along the fence.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and somebody explaining:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThis is mature running bamboo. There may be an established underground rhizome system extending beyond what you can see, and if you ever want this removed, you&#8217;re potentially talking about excavation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those aren&#8217;t remotely the same conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bamboo Isn&#8217;t Really the Problem You See Above Ground<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When homeowners first look at bamboo, they focus on the canes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s understandable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They&#8217;re 10, 15, 20 feet tall. That&#8217;s the obvious part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when we&#8217;re looking at a bamboo removal project, I&#8217;m much more interested in what&#8217;s underneath them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Running bamboo spreads through underground stems called <strong>rhizomes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think of those rhizomes as the infrastructure of the bamboo colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The canes you see above ground are connected to what&#8217;s happening underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s why cutting bamboo down doesn&#8217;t necessarily solve the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cutting the canes is usually the easy part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The underground work is where things get difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bamboo-removal-cut-bamboo-stalks-and-roots-dry-and-uprooted-b033f0e0.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bamboo Rhizome Spreading with fibers &#8211; Bellevue WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Running Bamboo Wants to Run<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many species of bamboo, but for homeowners there&#8217;s one distinction you should understand right away:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>running bamboo versus clumping bamboo.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Clumping bamboo generally expands outward more gradually around where it was planted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Running bamboo does exactly what the name says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its rhizomes travel through suitable soil and send up new shoots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s one reason people wanted it for privacy hedges in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It grows fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It gets tall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It gets thick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It fills gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You don&#8217;t have to wait forever for a privacy screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the bamboo doesn&#8217;t understand that you wanted a nice straight hedge between your house and your neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It responds to soil, moisture, sunlight, obstacles and available growing space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your property line means absolutely nothing to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">That&#8217;s Where Bamboo Barriers Come In<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A common solution is a bamboo or rhizome barrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basically, you&#8217;re creating an underground boundary designed to redirect and contain the rhizomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barriers can absolutely be part of managing running bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But here&#8217;s where I think homeowners sometimes get the wrong impression:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A bamboo barrier isn&#8217;t necessarily something you bury in the ground and never think about again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a <strong>management system<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Installation matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depth matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The material matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top of the barrier matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soil matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And somebody still needs to inspect what the bamboo is doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other thing people don&#8217;t always think about is what happens <strong>inside<\/strong> a contained area after years and years of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bamboo keeps growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More canes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More rhizomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More plant material occupying the same general area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve excavated mature bamboo where the rhizomes and soil were so tightly intertwined that it barely felt like digging through normal garden soil anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can become an incredibly dense underground mat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s when you start understanding why bamboo removal can get expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bamboo Removal Is Basically Excavation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People ask me all the time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWhy does bamboo cost so much to remove?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because on a serious bamboo project, we&#8217;re not really trimming plants anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re excavating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, we cut the bamboo down so we can work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then we expose the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then we locate the rhizomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then we start separating those rhizomes from the soil and removing them from the designated work area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the property, that might mean shovels, pickaxes, digging bars, saws and specialized hand tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes machinery makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes machinery can&#8217;t even get into the backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s another thing homeowners don&#8217;t always consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If I can get appropriate equipment directly to a bamboo area, that&#8217;s one project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If four guys have to carry everything through a narrow side yard and excavate it by hand, that&#8217;s another project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Same bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Completely different job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-manual-weed-removal-pulled-bamboo-roots-freshly-removed-614757c7.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bamboo Rhizome Waste &#8211; Shoreline WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Bamboo Hedges Can Look Identical and Cost Completely Different Amounts to Remove<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is why I don&#8217;t like giving bamboo prices based on a photograph alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m looking at several things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How old is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How dense is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How large is the actual affected area?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where are the rhizomes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How deep are they in the conditions we&#8217;re working in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can we get equipment into the yard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is there a retaining wall?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are there large rocks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Irrigation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Utilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Concrete?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A driveway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A fence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A neighboring property?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where is all of this material going after we remove it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And what does the homeowner actually mean by <strong>\u201cremove the bamboo\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s a huge one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One homeowner might want three feet cleared away from a fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another wants the entire hedge gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another wants every accessible rhizome excavated from a defined section of the yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another has bamboo extending under hardscape or onto property they don&#8217;t own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those aren&#8217;t the same scope of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yes, We&#8217;ve Seen Bamboo Situations Approach $15,000-$50,000<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to be careful here because I don&#8217;t want somebody reading this and thinking every bamboo hedge is a $50,000 problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are plenty of manageable bamboo jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve done smaller projects. We&#8217;ve done medium projects. We&#8217;ve done contained areas that were difficult but completely workable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I&#8217;ve also evaluated extreme situations where the potential work and restoration could approach <strong>$50,000 or more<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s what decades of growth can turn into when you combine a large affected area with difficult access, excavation, hauling, hardscape, neighboring land, restoration and other complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now imagine you&#8217;re buying a million-dollar house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You thought the bamboo was a hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe you mentally budgeted $1,000 or $2,000 to have somebody clean it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then somebody tells you that addressing what you actually want addressed could involve major excavation and tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s real money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s the kind of thing I&#8217;d want to know <strong>before<\/strong> I bought the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I&#8217;ve Seen Buyers Walk Away<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve seen prospective buyers reconsider homes after learning what the bamboo could involve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I don&#8217;t blame them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Buying a house is already stressful enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You don&#8217;t want to close, move your family in and then spend the next year worrying about a plant that keeps showing up in places where you don&#8217;t want it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve also encountered properties where bamboo had previously been cut very low and the surface was covered with landscaping material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m not going to speculate about why somebody did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe they were simply cleaning up the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe they wanted it to look better for sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wasn&#8217;t there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But here&#8217;s what I can tell you as a landscaper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cutting the canes down does not necessarily mean the underground bamboo is gone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s why a clean-looking patch of bark, grass or soil doesn&#8217;t tell me much if I know mature running bamboo was previously growing there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to know what&#8217;s underneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bamboo-removal-bamboo-plants-in-planter-healthy-growth-0a009e04.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bamboo Hedge in Container, safe, but heavy to remove later on &#8211; Seattle WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Worst Situations Are Sometimes Outside Your Property<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s another problem that can become very complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What happens when the bamboo has already escaped your yard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe it&#8217;s on the neighbor&#8217;s property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe it&#8217;s growing behind the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe it has entered a greenbelt or another area you don&#8217;t control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now you have a completely different problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You might be able to excavate your entire backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what happens to the bamboo outside your property?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who owns that land?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can you work there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you need permission?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is excavation even allowed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How are you going to manage the boundary afterward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have seen situations where the surrounding bamboo problem was so extensive that I couldn&#8217;t give the homeowner a simple answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And sometimes that&#8217;s the correct answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are bamboo jobs we decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are situations where hand labor doesn&#8217;t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are situations where another type of contractor or excavation equipment is more appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are situations involving retaining walls, utilities, hardscape or neighboring land where we&#8217;re simply not going to start digging and pretend everything is straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A good contractor should be willing to tell you when a project is outside what they can responsibly do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Home Sale Is Where This Gets Interesting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve noticed from talking with homeowners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes they knew the bamboo existed during the purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wasn&#8217;t necessarily hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe the seller mentioned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe an inspector saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe somebody said it grows quickly and needs to be maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But nobody really explained what removal might mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I think buyers need to understand something about any major transaction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everybody involved has their own job and their own perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The seller wants to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The buyer wants the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agents want to help their clients complete the transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inspectors have a particular scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contractors have their own specialties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m not saying anybody is intentionally hiding or minimizing bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wasn&#8217;t there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don&#8217;t know what was said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes the buyer probably heard the warning and didn&#8217;t think it was important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes everyone involved may genuinely believe it&#8217;s just a hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes the buyer found the perfect house and bamboo was number 47 on the list of things they were thinking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that&#8217;s also why <strong>you should get an opinion from somebody who understands the specific problem you&#8217;re looking at.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your Landscaper Might Not Know Either<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Landscaping is a huge field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some companies primarily mow lawns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some build retaining walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some install irrigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some do landscape design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some prune trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some install patios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some maintain commercial properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every landscaper spends a lot of time excavating mature running bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So don&#8217;t just ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cDo you think this bamboo is okay?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask somebody familiar with bamboo removal to actually look at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where are the shoots?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where does the hedge start and stop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is there evidence of a barrier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Has it escaped?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How dense is the planting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can the contractor expose a small area and see what the rhizomes look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What&#8217;s around it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can realistically be removed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can&#8217;t be evaluated without excavation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may spend a little money getting somebody out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a major home purchase, that&#8217;s cheap information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bamboo-removal-dense-bamboo-cluster-overgrown-30b6773b.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bamboo Colony outside homeowner front yard &#8211; Seattle WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I&#8217;m Not Telling You Not to Buy a House With Bamboo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s not the point of this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m also not telling everybody to remove their bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are homeowners who like their bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are bamboo plantings that are maintained successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are situations where containment and regular maintenance make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What I&#8217;m telling you is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Know what you&#8217;re buying.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to keep the bamboo, understand what maintaining it involves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to contain it, understand the containment system and the maintenance that goes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want it gone, understand what removal actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if it&#8217;s already growing somewhere you don&#8217;t control, understand that before you own the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re not writing this because everybody needs to hire Neat &amp; Tidy Landscaping to remove their bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re writing it because we&#8217;ve been on the other side of these phone calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve met the homeowner who just bought the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve seen the new shoots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve dug into the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve seen the sticker shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve seen manageable bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we&#8217;ve seen bamboo projects where the answer is basically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This is going to be a serious excavation project.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re buying a home, you deserve to understand that before you close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Look at the Yard Like You Look at the House<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People inspect roofs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They inspect foundations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They check plumbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They look at electrical panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They think about schools, parking, taxes, interest rates and remodeling costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look at the landscape too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How big is the yard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is it on a slope?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can equipment access it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What kind of trees are there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What&#8217;s growing along the property lines?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are there invasive plants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How much maintenance does this place actually need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you see bamboo, don&#8217;t panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just don&#8217;t gloss over it either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Get somebody knowledgeable to look at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Figure out what you&#8217;re dealing with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then make your decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the best time to understand what a landscape is going to cost you isn&#8217;t six months after you buy the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>It&#8217;s before the landscape becomes yours.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Field Notes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This article is based on my experience evaluating and working around residential bamboo properties in the Seattle area and conversations with homeowners and prospective buyers. Every property is different. Bamboo species, age, density, soil, access, structures, utilities, neighboring properties, containment systems and the desired scope of work can dramatically change what management or removal involves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The examples here are meant to help homeowners know what questions to ask\u2014not to suggest that every bamboo property will have the same problems or costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Evan Le, Founder of Neat &amp; Tidy Landscaping and Editor of American Landscaping Journal You found the house. Good neighborhood. Good school district. Parking isn&#8217;t bad. The house itself is in decent condition. Maybe it even came in a little below what you expected to pay. The yard needs some work, but that&#8217;s okay. &#8230; <a title=\"Thinking About Buying a Home With Bamboo? Read This First\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/plants-weeds\/thinking-about-buying-a-home-with-bamboo-read-this-first\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Thinking About Buying a Home With Bamboo? Read This First\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-manual-weed-removal-uprooted-bamboo-stalks-freshly-removed-58bea0bf.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bamboo-removal","category-plants-weeds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions\/49"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}