People urged to ‘think twice’ before buying plant after it caused £100k of damage to home

Gardeners have been issued a stark warning about a common plant that recently wreaked havoc on someone’s home, causing £100k of damage.

The homeowner was left to foot the eye-watering bill after their neighbour’s bamboo plant spread from their own garden and up into their property, according to invasive plant specialists Environet UK.

The running variety of bamboo had quietly built a huge network of rhizomes – underground plant stems – beneath the fence and towards the £700k four-bedroom home in Hampshire. 

Unfortunately for the occupiers, the issue only became apparent when the plant started bursting through the walls, with shoots coming out in the living room, study, hall and kitchen through gaps between the wall and the floor.

Environet UK

In order to remove the hundreds of metres of bamboo, the floor had to be broken and lifted out, as did the walls and internal walls in the kitchen and bathroom.

It was also found that the plant had begun to grow up into the cavity walls, meaning it could eventually have forced them apart if it had been left any longer.

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Once the homeowners’ insurers agreed to pay, it took workers a whole week to remove the rhizomes. According to Environet, they had to move out for the works to be carried out, and are yet to move back in.

Nic Seal from Environet UK said on the incident: “This is the worst case of bamboo encroachment and damage to property I’ve ever seen in this country.

Environet UK

“It’s unfortunate that bamboo is still sold at garden centres and plant nurseries with little or no warning about the risks.

“I would urge anyone considering planting bamboo to think twice and, if you already have it growing in your garden, take action now to ensure it’s properly contained. It can be worse than Japanese knotweed.”

If you’re concerned about your home becoming consumed by garden bamboo – which was likely very small and cute when you planted it –  the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has offered a number of tips to keep the plant under control.

Because the majority of weed-suppressant ground cover fabrics will not stop invasive bamboo from spreading, the RHS says that digging out clumps of bamboo can help with restricting the size, as would planting it inside a physical barrier.

For their full range of tips, visit the RHS website.