After a state law passed a few years ago that gave local governments and municipalities the authority to create their own invasive bamboo control laws, some areas have begun to enact laws about keeping spreading bamboo contained. We don't have a list of such legislations or know exactly where any have been created, so you could check with local town/county government to see if such measures exist (or will soon) locally. The state of Maryland did recently add two running bamboo species (with more likely to be added in the coming years) to a list of invasive plants banned for sale in the state, but that law does not require that plants be removed from landscapes. Perhaps these other actions can help convince the HOA that they should create a regulation about keeping running bamboo contained if it is already growing on a property in the development. The cost burden and disruption to the landscape (plus any hardscaping that can be broken by emerging new shoots) on a neighbor (or public land) is not insignificant for them to have to install barriers to its spread (pruning overhanging stems or cutting down new shoots doesn't address the plant's spread as effectively).

If there is no rhizome barrier currently in place (it seems not, unless the bamboo has been growing over the barrier in the absence of maintenance from the resident), one needs to be installed to more easily manage the patch so it can't keep spreading limitlessly. Rhizome barriers do not prevent the runners from spreading at all, but when installed properly, barriers force the runners to grow up and out of the ground to "hop over" the barrier, where they can be spotted and then cut off so they don't root on the other side and keep growing. To install a rhizome barrier typically requires the use of heavy machinery to dig a 2- to 3-foot deep trench, which of course can be very disruptive to the landscape if there are currently any desirable plant roots in that area, and which may also cause temporary erosion issues.

You can learn more about your options in our Containing and Removing Bamboo page. Unfortunately, eradication efforts won't work unless you are granted full access to the entire patch, as running bamboo won't succumb to physical or chemical efforts to remove it if part of the patch remains untreated/uncut.

Miri

I see, and that is frustrating. Extension doesn't keep tabs on local laws (and in this case, we've heard very little about any bamboo laws under consideration or going into effect) since we are not a regulatory entity like the state ag. department (MDA). Since HGIC covers the whole state and is thus more familiar with statewide regulations (like the recently-updated MDA banned plant list), your local Extension office might be more aware of locally-applicable regulations, but even so, word of bamboo control laws seem to be scarce in Maryland thus far. All I can think of is to check various tiers of local government/municipalities to ask if they have any regulations that are in effect or planned. We don't have legal training and can't really speak to how you could use regulations in one area to influence enforcement in another.

At the very least, though, I would think this should help to motivate local government to generate their own bamboo regulations. With invasive species of running bamboo widely planted in Maryland, it certainly is a pervasive problem that isn't going to resolve itself if the people who planted those specimens stop maintaining them.

Miri

You're welcome.