£100k warning to gardeners as destructive plant sweeps UK
The invasive plant can punch through asphalt, paving stones and buildings.
A nightmare garden plant is causing chaos in UK gardens, forcing homeowners to rip out parts of their properties at costs of up to £100,000. Invasive bamboo has become increasingly pervasive in the UK in recent years, with its ability to punch through paving stones and asphalt wreaking havoc on homes and forcing Brits to spend tens of thousands on repairs. Jennifer Holmes, of species removal company Environmental Controls, said there had been an "explosion of bamboo removal requests from worried homeowners" over the past two years.
One of the most disastrous cases on Ms Holmes' books involved a neighbour's bamboo hedge spreading into the house next-door and sprouting up through the skirting board. The costs of eradicating it totalled £100,000 and involved the complete removal and replacement of the property's ground floor.
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"We've seen bamboo rip up decking and grow through cracks in house walls," Ms Holmes told The Telegraph.
"We've seen roots grow through drainage, causing damage to underground infrastructure and lifting a roof off a shed."
While not officially classed as an invasive species like Japanese Knotweed, invasive bamboo can wreak the same degree of damage on properties as its fast-spreading counterpart.
Running varieties can send out long underground stems, extending over 10 metres from the original plant and quickly taking over lawns, flowerbeds, paths and patios, as well as sheds and buildings.
It is a growing cause for concern in Britain, with the number of bamboo-related reports lodged with removal and advice service Environet rising by 40% in the last five years.
The trend has been linked to certain varieties of bamboo that experienced a popularity boom in the 1990s and 2000s rising up through garden topsoil after years of burrowing beneath it.
Costs don't always hit the tens of thousands, but even a smallscale invasion of the pesky plant can turn gardens and homes upside down.
David and Kate Faulkner, a couple in their 70s from Cheshire, shelled out £7,000 on removing their entire front garden, including carefully cultivated flowers and shrubbery, after bamboo started coming through paving stones in 2021.
"We think a neighbour was obviously influenced by all those TV gardening programmes that pushed bamboo as the next big thing," Mr Faulkner said. "What the neighbour didn't know was that some types of bamboo spread."
A YouGov survey of over 2,000 UK adults last year found that 54% were unaware of the serious problems bamboo can cause to properties, including physical damage, neighbour rows and reduced sale price.
