Our recently purchased house in Whitby has bamboo plants growing against a back (west) wall and the roots are invading and starting to crack the foundation to the point where a shoot just came through into the inside wall. What is the best way of killing the plant, including the roots? (the inside shoot wasn’t there 3 weeks ago!). The previous owners cut back the bamboo to ground level, but it is growing back quickly. Thanks
Invasive bamboos (Phyllostachys spp.) reproduce rhizomatically (from the roots) and can be very difficult to eradicate. There are a couple of methods which are often suggested. Both advise first cutting the bamboo stems (culms) down to ground level as the previous owners have done, but there are steps to be followed after this. Here is a good description of the methods that work best on this invasive plant: https://www.bamboobotanicals.ca/html/bamboo-care/bamboo-removal-eradication.html
If you feel this is more than you can tackle on your own, an internet search of “providers of invasive species removal and control” should yield names of landscape firms that undertake this type of work.