Backyard takeover: Homeowner wins epic five-month battle

The mass spread across the entire backyard and began blocking the sun for everyone around it.

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A five-month backyard battle has ended for a pair of shocked Aussie first home buyers, but the uneasy peace in their new neighbourhood has a hidden twist that has some on edge.

The couple cautiously bought their first home in about nine months ago, wary of it having an “absolute monstrosity” in the backyard – towering more than 20m and some “as thick as my leg”, but felt they could handle it. Now five months later, an uneasy peace is in place as they watch for fresh shoots.

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A pair of Brisbane first home buyers battled bamboo that took over their backyard.

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The “absolute monstrosity” in this case is bamboo out in their new backyard which had overrun not just their entire backyard, but had put neighbours off-side – blocking sunlight from nearby houses with its leaves also littering gutters and backyards all around it.

Some observers said there was so much bamboo he could “build a bridge or skyscraper with it. A couple of knots with string and you could make a 6 storey building”.

The new homeowner said they assessed the situation before purchase and found it was a clumping, not running, type of bamboo – which means they had a shot at removal, taking a massive 22 weeks to rid the neighbourhood of it.

“Well after about a day a week since Christmas we finally cut the last piece down,” the homeowner said. “Some were 20m + and as thick as my leg. Now to find an excavator to dig it all up.”

“+1 to having awesome neighbours who let us take down the fence and have full side access via their property the whole time,” the homeowner said. “Wouldn’t have been able to do it without that so we are very grateful. Although they are just as stoked it’s gone themselves.”

But that’s not going to last long, others warned, saying removing the top is the easy part over for the couple – with much more vigilance and brutality required to make sure it’s not going to be causing more damage in future.

One day a week since Christmas the first home buyers have been hacking away at this.

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One who had the same thing around horse stables, said the rhizomes were a nightmare to remove: ”I really want you to win this war, cause that’s what it is!”, with another warning: “don’t look now, but there are probably 20 shoots coming up amongst all that. In two weeks, they’ll be a metre tall or coming up in your neighbour’s yard. Ask me how I know”.

Speed was of the essence: “unless you get weed killer on the cut within about 10 seconds, the wound has self-sealed and the herbicide is useless”.

The homeowner was very aware of the challenge to come though: “saw that online so we pretty much sprayed each shoot the second we cut it. Seemed to work quite well. Within a week they’d lost all colour and gone hard. If we missed one it was back in days.”

Some homeowners have gone so far as to sell up and move to a bamboo-free home because of this issue: “I had a big clump of bamboo something like that at a house I once owned. Took about six months of hard yakka cutting it, digging out roots with a pick axe etc. Got to the point where I had it not quite totally eliminated, but well controlled, then I sold and bought elsewhere.”

Neighbours let them take down a fence in order to have ease of access for equipment and rubbish removal.

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An arborist who cuts down bamboo clumps and other hard-to-kill plants almost every day said culling and spraying with weedkiller like Roundup “definitely works just takes a few months with some species of bamboo”.

“There are other chemicals that are more effective but you don’t want that — the good thing about roundup is it’s only just strong enough to kill things. You don’t want to salt the earth — presumably one day you’ll plant something else there. Roundup will allow that.”

The hidden challenge of dealing with what’s underground required one of three arborist approaches: 1. Cut the stump/roots away with a mattock once it’s dried; 2. Wait longer then use a shovel; 3. Hire a stump grinder if you want it gone quick.

That too has a caveat: “Just beware if you hit a rock or metal, the stump grinder could have to be repaired. That’s the main reason stump grinding companies are so expensive. If you hire a grinder and DIY the job, they’ll check for damage and the bill will be really high if you’ve hit anything.”

Landscape designers pay a lot for mature clumping bamboo.

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On Reddit, group members have suggested just brutalising the earth with an excavator to dig up the remains: “I had some in my backyard but most were only 15-30mm thick. After cutting them down to ground level I used a 1.7t excavator with teeth on the bucket and it did alright. Would probably recommend a 2.7t if you have the access and use a ripper. Do all the hard work sitting down.”

But not everyone agrees with the decision to tear down the thriving plant: “landscape designers pay big dollars for mature specimens like that. Clumping bamboo is the best type of bamboo you can have.”

“They need to be pruned and maintained so people don’t become overwhelmed and insecure. Now you’ve lost all that wonderful shade and windbreak. Oh well. It’s your property. It’s your castle. You can do what you want. I just thought I’d put it out there for the bamboo lovers who are probably in tears.”

The Ghost Bamboo (clumping variety) which featured in designer John Middleton’s exhibit at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

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Those bamboo lovers agree the property was better before the plants were cut down, given bamboo “makes the most serene sounds in the wind”, “we have two sides very happily privatised with clumping Nepalese Blue” and even a blunt “it looked good… now it looks sh*t”.

The first home buyer stuck to his guns though, saying “the whole neighbourhood was sick of the leaves going everywhere and filling everyone’s gutters. It killed everything around it. And our house is now full of natural light. It won’t be getting left as it currently is. nice fence, tropical garden and a pool going in.”

GUIDE FOR AUSSIE HOMEOWNERS

WHAT NOT TO PLANT

Bamboo

Golden cane palm

Gum tree (large species)

Common fig

Lilly pilly (large species)

Umbrella tree (an environmental weed in this area)

West African tulip (this a Class 3 weed)

Pine tree

Poinciana

Jacaranda

Broad – leafed paperbark

Weeping paperbark

Mango tree

Coral tree

Willow (all types) (this a Class 3 weed)

Camphor Laurel (this a Class 3 weed)

Wisteria

Black bean

WHAT TO PLANT

Directly above or up to 1.5m away from water supply and wastewater pipes

Blue flax lily

Tall sedge

Spiny-headed mat-rush

Common tussock grass

Kangaroo grass

Common hovea

Between 1.5m and 3m away from water supply and wastewater pipes

Austral indigo

Dogwood

Dwarf banksia

Hairy bush pea

Sweet wattle

Woombye bush

Broad – leaved palm lily

More than 3m away from water supply and wastewater pipes

Blueberry ash

Plum myrtle

Peanut tree

(Guide source: Unitywater)

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