a neighbor has invasive bamboo - Ask Extension
My neighbor (that we do not know) has invasive bamboo, along a fence line that borders my property and 2 other neighbors. For decades I have been fig...
Knowledgebase
a neighbor has invasive bamboo #930104
Asked April 30, 2026, 7:01 AM EDT
My neighbor (that we do not know) has invasive bamboo, along a fence line that borders my property and 2 other neighbors. For decades I have been fighting it with cutting it out when it comes onto my property. I am now 70 years old and it is hard for me to keep repelling this invasive species. I would like to spray the stalks that lean over my property with an herbicide that would kill it. Don't know what else to do. Do I have any recourse to let them know this is an invasive species, it has gone on long enough, and they need to address this? Is there a government agency that can address this with them?
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
While a systemic herbicide application (something that is absorbed and moves into roots) can kill the shoots currently present, it will not be a useful long-term tool since new growth will continually re-invade the yard from the neighbor's bamboo patch. Although we realize it's a more expensive and disruptive approach, having a rhizome barrier installed is one of the only methods to curtail the plant's spread onto other properties. You can learn more about this in our Containing and Removing Bamboo page.
As for what recourse you have for imposing restrictions on the neighbor to control their invasive planting, that is information we don't have. However, a Maryland law was passed in recent years that gave local governments/municipalities the ability to legislate bamboo control and planting. We do not know the status of which towns or counties that have enacted such laws, but you can inquire with local government to see if any regulations have been put in place (or you could ask that they give it consideration, given the financial and labor burden it places on neighbors, plus the potential increase in herbicide use that could increase environmental harm).
Miri
As for what recourse you have for imposing restrictions on the neighbor to control their invasive planting, that is information we don't have. However, a Maryland law was passed in recent years that gave local governments/municipalities the ability to legislate bamboo control and planting. We do not know the status of which towns or counties that have enacted such laws, but you can inquire with local government to see if any regulations have been put in place (or you could ask that they give it consideration, given the financial and labor burden it places on neighbors, plus the potential increase in herbicide use that could increase environmental harm).
Miri
