Buying your first home is a milestone worth celebrating.
But for one couple, the real party didn’t start until they’d conquered a backyard beast that had taken over their property—and nearly the whole neighbourhood.
Their adversary? Not a possum, not a python, but a towering, 20-metre-high wall of bamboo that had turned their garden into a jungle and left their neighbours fuming.
The battle begins: A bamboo nightmare
When the Brisbane couple moved into their new home nine months ago, they were greeted not by a lush lawn or a tidy garden, but by what they described as an ‘absolute monstrosity of bamboo’.
The plant, with canes as thick as a grown man’s leg, had formed dense clumps along the fence line, looming over their property and threatening to spill into the neighbour’s garden.
Bamboo might look lovely in a designer pot, but in the wilds of suburbia, it’s a different story.
Native to tropical and subtropical Asia, bamboo is notorious for its rapid growth and resilience.
With over 100 species, some varieties can shoot up several centimetres a day, and once established, they’re almost impossible to eradicate without serious effort.
Neighbours unite against the green invader
It didn’t take long for the neighbourhood to rally against the leafy invader.
Just a week after moving in, the couple’s immediate neighbours approached them, pleading for the bamboo to be removed.
The plant’s leaves were clogging gutters, and its dense shade had ‘killed everything around it’, leaving gardens barren and homes starved of natural light.
In a true display of Australian neighbourliness, the residents next door even agreed to let the couple take down their shared fence, giving them full access to the bamboo thicket from both sides.
‘Wouldn’t have been able to do it without that, so we are very grateful,’ the homeowner said. ‘Although they are just as stoked, it’s gone themselves.’
Five months, one chainsaw, and a lot of grit
Armed with a chainsaw and a bottle of herbicide, the couple spent at least one day a week over five months hacking away at the bamboo.
Each shoot was cut and immediately sprayed with poison to prevent regrowth—a method that, according to the homeowner, worked wonders.
‘Within a week they’d lost all colour and gone hard,’ he reported.
But even after the last towering cane was felled, the battle wasn’t over.
The couple now faces the task of removing the stubborn stumps, a job for which they’ll be enlisting an excavator.
Once the ground is clear, they plan to install a new fence and plant privacy trees—hopefully of a less aggressive variety.
Why bamboo is a backyard bully
Bamboo’s reputation as a garden menace is well-earned.
As Tim Pickles, a Sydney garden centre owner, explained, ‘Bamboo, by nature, spreads and gets wider and wider over time, so in today’s narrow gardens, it impacts your neighbours. They’re uncontrollable… it eventually pops up next door… It’s disrupting as it can lift pavements, concrete fences… It’s a powerful plant.’
There are two main types of bamboo: Clumping and running.
Clumping bamboo tends to stay put, growing in tight clusters, while running bamboo sends out underground stems that can travel metres from the original plant, popping up in the most unexpected places—sometimes even through concrete!
Legal and environmental considerations
Despite its invasive tendencies, bamboo isn’t classified as a prohibited or restricted plant under Queensland’s Biosecurity Act 2014.
However, homeowners are legally required to ‘take reasonable and practical steps to minimise the risks associated with invasive plants under their control’.
In other words, if your bamboo is running amok, it’s your responsibility to rein it in.
Bamboo was originally introduced to Australia as an ornamental plant, but it has since spread throughout South East Queensland and northern New South Wales, causing headaches for landowners and councils alike.
While clumping varieties are less likely to invade native bushland, running bamboo can quickly become a serious environmental problem.
A brighter, bamboo-free future
For our Brisbane couple, the end of their bamboo saga means more sunlight, happier neighbours, and a garden they can finally call their own.
Their story is a timely reminder that not all greenery is good greenery—and that sometimes, the most important part of home ownership is what you dig up, not what you plant.
Have you battled an invasive plant in your backyard? Do you have bamboo horror stories or tips for keeping it under control? Share your experiences in the comments below—we’d love to hear from you!
Also read: Are these invasive threats secretly in your home? What you need to know!
