Neighbours bamboo - coming onto my land
Discussion
Evening
Just needing some advice from the fellow PH's, apologies for long email
I moved into my current home about 10 months ago. Its a fairly new home on a new estate - 11 years old.
The bottom of my neighbours garden backs onto my path that runs down the side of my house. The path is your usual basic flagged path, with soil / slate chippings that cover the soil at the either side of the path.
So basically, the distance between the fence at the bottom of my neighbours garden and the side of my house is around 2 feet, or less. The path is in between my neighbours fence and the side wall of my house. The homes on the estate are all built very close together.
My neighbour has 10 year old bamboo on his side of the fence (less than a meter in width). Its pretty contained on his side, as its in a raised bed. Its grown very tall though - about 2/3 the height of my house.
Unfortunately, I have noticed my neighbours bamboo roots have grown under his fence, and are now sprouting up on my side (longish root-type shoots). They look to be damaging the membrane at the side of my flagged path. The baboo roots have noticeably grown over past few weeks.
The bamboo roots have not yet damaged by path (so far, they look to be on the soil area the side of the path closest to the fence) - however, I am concerned that the plastic membrane under my path is somewhat supressing more roots, and the bamboo could already growing under the path, towards the side of my house / house foundations.
It looks like the previous owner of my house has previously cut back some of my neighbours bamboo shoots that have previously come through and covered it in slate chippings - hence why I didn't notice it before!
I raised the bamboo issue with my neighbour, and he told me not to worry. He said it's "clumping" bamboo, and all is ok... "don't waste your money on a survey..." etc.
I did, however, a survey done (by what appears to be a large established company).
The surveyor advised the bamboo is a type of "runner" bamboo - Phyllostachys. We know runner bamboo is the worst type and can spread etc. Unhelpfully, the surveyor will not categorically put on the survey that the bamboo is "running" or the name (Phyllostachys) - but the survey does highlight the potential risk to my property and area.
The surveying company has given the options of either herbicide treatment (cheaper, but it could take years to do and could be difficult if I came to sell my house within that time), or excavation (more expensive, but seems to be a more permanent solution).
The surveyor advised there is not enough room for a bamboo barrier.
My plan is to approach my neighbour this week, but I don't want to look like a d**k, and cause him to be difficult etc. It could lead to him refusing to do anything, which in turn could waste time
Can I have your thoughts....
- Should I be asking him to remove his bamboo altogether? - as technically its encroaching onto my property. This seems to be the best solution, but obviously will cost a lot of money.
- Just how much should I be negotiating with my neighbour? - one part of me wants to be a d**k, and tell him to take the bamboo down, pay for all the work to be done himself etc. However, there could be some room for negotiation - I.e. I pay for 25% of the work to be done, he pays remaining 75%
- Has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing, and how it got resolved? What other options are they?
Any help / advice appreciated
Just needing some advice from the fellow PH's, apologies for long email
I moved into my current home about 10 months ago. Its a fairly new home on a new estate - 11 years old.
The bottom of my neighbours garden backs onto my path that runs down the side of my house. The path is your usual basic flagged path, with soil / slate chippings that cover the soil at the either side of the path.
So basically, the distance between the fence at the bottom of my neighbours garden and the side of my house is around 2 feet, or less. The path is in between my neighbours fence and the side wall of my house. The homes on the estate are all built very close together.
My neighbour has 10 year old bamboo on his side of the fence (less than a meter in width). Its pretty contained on his side, as its in a raised bed. Its grown very tall though - about 2/3 the height of my house.
Unfortunately, I have noticed my neighbours bamboo roots have grown under his fence, and are now sprouting up on my side (longish root-type shoots). They look to be damaging the membrane at the side of my flagged path. The baboo roots have noticeably grown over past few weeks.
The bamboo roots have not yet damaged by path (so far, they look to be on the soil area the side of the path closest to the fence) - however, I am concerned that the plastic membrane under my path is somewhat supressing more roots, and the bamboo could already growing under the path, towards the side of my house / house foundations.
It looks like the previous owner of my house has previously cut back some of my neighbours bamboo shoots that have previously come through and covered it in slate chippings - hence why I didn't notice it before!
I raised the bamboo issue with my neighbour, and he told me not to worry. He said it's "clumping" bamboo, and all is ok... "don't waste your money on a survey..." etc.
I did, however, a survey done (by what appears to be a large established company).
The surveyor advised the bamboo is a type of "runner" bamboo - Phyllostachys. We know runner bamboo is the worst type and can spread etc. Unhelpfully, the surveyor will not categorically put on the survey that the bamboo is "running" or the name (Phyllostachys) - but the survey does highlight the potential risk to my property and area.
The surveying company has given the options of either herbicide treatment (cheaper, but it could take years to do and could be difficult if I came to sell my house within that time), or excavation (more expensive, but seems to be a more permanent solution).
The surveyor advised there is not enough room for a bamboo barrier.
My plan is to approach my neighbour this week, but I don't want to look like a d**k, and cause him to be difficult etc. It could lead to him refusing to do anything, which in turn could waste time
Can I have your thoughts....
- Should I be asking him to remove his bamboo altogether? - as technically its encroaching onto my property. This seems to be the best solution, but obviously will cost a lot of money.
- Just how much should I be negotiating with my neighbour? - one part of me wants to be a d**k, and tell him to take the bamboo down, pay for all the work to be done himself etc. However, there could be some room for negotiation - I.e. I pay for 25% of the work to be done, he pays remaining 75%
- Has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing, and how it got resolved? What other options are they?
Any help / advice appreciated
Dig up what you can see, cover it back up and get the house on the market and move as far away from it as possible (although it'll still probably pop up in your garden if you move miles away).
Its evil stuff and a right pain in the arse. Whatever the modern equivalent of DDT is - use that. Spray it over the fence at the same time.
Its evil stuff and a right pain in the arse. Whatever the modern equivalent of DDT is - use that. Spray it over the fence at the same time.
Moulder said:
Could always invite your neighbour round and ask him to go in the garden to have a look.
That made me feel all funny reading that. Possible ever so slightly over the top OutInTheShed said:
Or, open a beer and think of all the things you can make with some bamboo.Any advance on 'bicycle'?
bigdom said:
I killed incoming Bamboo with Glyphosate 360 and a syringe. It took a couple of years, but it has stopped coming through now.
Spray with diluted & inject with some neat and it dies off very reliably. Stems might take ages to fade down & look dead but the leaves will show the state it's in. Spraying fresh shoots is very effective, it's when it's grown it's hardier.
DaveyBoyWonder said:
Dig up what you can see, cover it back up and get the house on the market and move as far away from it as possible (although it'll still probably pop up in your garden if you move miles away).
Its evil stuff and a right pain in the arse. Whatever the modern equivalent of DDT is - use that. Spray it over the fence at the same time.
Clueless.Its evil stuff and a right pain in the arse. Whatever the modern equivalent of DDT is - use that. Spray it over the fence at the same time.
DDT is (was) an insecticide.
Probably ideal for stopping termites from eating the bamboo, but no other relevance.
OutInTheShed said:
richhead said:
OutInTheShed said:
GiantEnemyCrab said:
Glyso / Diesel / Petrol?
Suggesting diesel or petrol is just criminally retarded.Where do you think arsenic comes from?
If it came out of the ground, the best place for it is back in the ground.
I have no idea where arsnic comes from, nore do i care.
What harm is there in putting something back where it came from?
Proper full strength glyphosphate will do the trick and is non persistent and basically non hazardous. Other things will just pollute the ground forever.
And hacking at the bamboo eithout spraying just makes it grow and spread more.
Spray the leaves (carefully), spray the shoots, wait for the leaves & shoots to go brown, trim the canes, repeat as necessary. Inject with neat glyphosate if you have the tools and a 360/480/etc concentrate - doesnt take much of it. Then wait.
And hacking at the bamboo eithout spraying just makes it grow and spread more.
Spray the leaves (carefully), spray the shoots, wait for the leaves & shoots to go brown, trim the canes, repeat as necessary. Inject with neat glyphosate if you have the tools and a 360/480/etc concentrate - doesnt take much of it. Then wait.
richhead said:
in the old days we were taught to dig a hole and fill with gravel and poor used oil into it, in time the oil will be absorbed back into the earth.
If it came out of the ground, the best place for it is back in the ground.
I have no idea where arsnic comes from, nore do i care.
What harm is there in putting something back where it came from?
In the old days, people were pretty squalid.If it came out of the ground, the best place for it is back in the ground.
I have no idea where arsnic comes from, nore do i care.
What harm is there in putting something back where it came from?
Oil carelessly discarded can get into watercourses and kill a lot of things.
You can get a pretty big fine if caught.
You'll also find it's more likely to kill stuff you want or give you cancer than kill stuff you don't want.
Oil generally comes from a long way under ground.
Arsenic, likewise comes out of the ground but you don't want to go throwing around your garden.
OutInTheShed said:
richhead said:
in the old days we were taught to dig a hole and fill with gravel and poor used oil into it, in time the oil will be absorbed back into the earth.
If it came out of the ground, the best place for it is back in the ground.
I have no idea where arsnic comes from, nore do i care.
What harm is there in putting something back where it came from?
In the old days, people were pretty squalid.If it came out of the ground, the best place for it is back in the ground.
I have no idea where arsnic comes from, nore do i care.
What harm is there in putting something back where it came from?
Oil carelessly discarded can get into watercourses and kill a lot of things.
You can get a pretty big fine if caught.
You'll also find it's more likely to kill stuff you want or give you cancer than kill stuff you don't want.
Oil generally comes from a long way under ground.
Arsenic, likewise comes out of the ground but you don't want to go throwing around your garden.
Im more likely to get cancer from people burning oil than walking on it.
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