I would assume that if a person would like to buy a house landscaped with a bunch of running bamboo that they will have to rip out sooner or later, than they will be agitated. Everyone has different hobbies, and some homeowners are not going to want to rhizome prune or have a liability such as bamboo that may or may not run onto a neighbor's lawn.

I would be interested if it is unlawful not to disclose the information, when selling a home, in any particular area?

I've seen plenty of people remove bamboo the first chance they get after buying a new home. It ends up in a dumpster and in the landfill soon afterward. Many people have heard horor stories of bamboo and that myth won't go away. Even if you can speak to these people and educate them, they don't want plant material that has to be maintaned from underground. Pruners and hedging shears are the order of the day for most weekend gardeners.

Cheers, Barrie.

I'm a real estate broker and when I see out of control bamboo at a property, I warn the buyer about it and the potential for future problems if left unchecked. With that being said, I also talk about the benefits of keeping it in the garden and gaining control if it's possible (sometimes it is so out of control from a neighboring property that gaining control would be impossible without the neighbor assisting.) You folks would not believe some of the out of control bamboo I've seen over the years!

On my own property we have about 30 plants that are kept in control by a combination of rhizome pruning, barriers and extensive thinning. My plan when the time comes to sell is to dig up and completely remove the runners and repair the grove areas. The clumpers will remain with an explanation sign next to them for the buyer. Post a free bamboo on craigslist.org and they'll all be gone by the weekend. I'll take division pots over to the new place and start over.

So in my opinion (and my opinion only) is that bamboo unfortunately has a negative impact on property values because of mass hysteria and mis-information. I wish it was different but the only way it'll change is through educating all your friends and family about the realities of bamboo.

-Adam
PNW Chapter ABS Member

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Bamboo Garden

Adam,

Thanks for the information, you somewht validated my suspicions about property values. NOT what I wanted to hear though... I have no desire to dig up a timber grove when I move. Digging just one timber division is a LOT of work.

As someone who worked many years in the nuke industry (please let's not get riled up at this) I am very aware of the problem of ignorance and misconceptions of the general public. My neighbors are already eyeing my 30 gallon continers with suspicion and negative remarks.

Food for thought for all of us boo addicts though.

Back to searching for huge sturdy containers (see my other thread on this).

Just motivates me to get that 10 acres and get out of suburbia...

Stu

It may also depend on where you live. I'm in the Seattle area, which is ethnically diverse, and we had a number of potential Asian buyers who were happy to see bamboo when I was selling my other house. At my new place, my three neighbors like bamboo and I've actually given them each several plants.

I recognize that folks who expect to move every few years may have constraints, and I empathize with that. However, I expect to be here quite a while and I'm going to do what makes me happy, which is to plant a ton of bamboo. If I ever get around to selling and I can't take it all with me, I'll just have the best free bamboo dig this area has ever seen and the "problem" will be resolved in a weekend.

It's not just bamboo that get's a bad rap. There's plenty of other plants and trees that are notorious in city/suburban lots. Many trees lift and heave sidewalks and driveways. Drop pitch, leaves, cones, whatever. But yes, most people see bamboo and run screaming.
Fortunatly I live in an area where many people have acreage, and bamboo in not a concern. Just watering it in summer is.

Cheers, Barrie (Vancouver Island)

I'm not moving anytime in the near future as well thank god. My opinion only stems from my own experience with what a "typical" home buyer would be concerned about, and the concept of making a property for sale appeal to the largest group of prospects as possible. It sucks that a plant I love so dearly and is so interesting to me in many ways is reviled by the general population.

You're correct about an online ad. All you have to do these days in Portland is list "free bamboo for the taking" on craigslist.org and it'll be dug up for you in a matter of hours.

A few months ago I was at a home for sale in Lake Oswego that was over run by P. vivax from a neighboring property. There were culm stumps 3 & 4" in diameter in the backyard all through the lawn and garden beds right up to the edge of the structure. The owner was basically hoping no one would notice. It was a really bad situation because the plant was running into all the other neighboring yards as well. The downhill neighbor had planted it a few years ago against the fence bordering three properties. After much discussion my client passed on it, but not entirely for the bamboo issue.

All is not negative though. One of the other side benefits of my profession is I get to "rescue" bamboo occasionally. Almost without exception the owner doesn't know what they have and they haven't taken good care of it. The plants convalesce at my place for few months and then I give them to whomever would like them for free in conjunction with the divisions I sell locally. It's a lot of fun.

If you are really concerned about making an impression on Joe Sixpack, then plant nothing. Pave everything so there will be pads for cars, RVs, and boats.

I know someone in Spokane that moved last summer and the landscaping with bamboo helped them sell their old house.

The big problem here are the stories about people trying to remove Japanese Knotweed and calling it bamboo.

Bill

It seems to me your question contains the answer you seek. For me, the core issue is who am I, what have I done in the past, and what am I going to do here? Seems like there's little doubt that one will find more potential buyers on a bamboo free property. But is that how I live my life? By the bottom line? It may be smart, but it isn't me. I have to believe that my way is OK, whatever that way may be. Your path may indeed be to follow the money rather than to do what you love; if you examine your life you may see that that is indeed, your way. Of course, we always have the opportunity to change, any time we make a decision. I don't say one way is better than another. I just attempt to go forward believing (metaphorically) that the right buyer will come along at the right time. Having said all that, obviously it is great that clumpers are also beautiful, and a gorgeous answer to this deep dilema.

I know with the American Conifer Society I saw an advertisement for house for sale complete with a huge collection of conifers. This is a big draw too someone who collects conifers. The same thing could be said with bamboo.Last year I saw an ad for house for sale with over 100+ types of bamboo.To me, this would be a big selling point.All the work is already done. I do however get a great deal of pride in establishing a landscape as I like it and knowing I did the work to get it that way.
How wouldn't want a mature grove of Moso......

I think SeattleBoo has hit the proverbial "nail on the head" here. Please yourself first with your gardening hobby because no matter how you garden, someone won't like what you've done anyway.
I turned many a head when I bought my current home. I'm sure people must have thought a mad man gardener had moved in. Palms, bananas, Eucalyptus, cacti, and many other plants made there way into my PNW (Vancouver Island) garden. Now the sceptics are coming to me for advise and wanting plant material they see in my garden. It's "in your face" gardening that these people have an affection for. So not everyone is put off, just overwhelmed by what they believe to be a difficult style or high mainantence gardening for this region. Once they learn otherwise, they're hooked.

Cheers, Barrie

Absolutley do what works for you and makes you happy in the garden and in the home. Screw resale value if you enjoy it, and I'm not kidding. We need to be happy and enjoy what the fruits of our labor can bring to us. Just a reminder that the orignal question was asking for an opinion from a so called "expert" in real estate. Also realize that the majority of the public do not garden in the real sense.

Gotta love Mother Earth!

Thanks,
Adam

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. All good points, I am still on the fence about this...

What got me started with bamboo was the desire for more privacy on my in-city 1/4 acre lot. Bamboo provides that quickly and better then anything else.

"Park-like setting" is a phrase that would definietly describe my property. That and privacy are great selling points.

Tearing out boo would be easy with digging equipment. Access for that equipment is the problem. Hauling it all away would cost several hundred dollars more than the digging of it. Re-landscaping that site would take the most time and effort.

I read of Joe-sixpack's "mass hysteria and mis-information" about the bamboo "myth"--so tell me:
I grow camellias and azaleas and am invaded by bamboo from two sides of my yard. I fight it continually. It come up in the middle of azeleas 15' away from any visable boo growth and then I am faced w a new "front line". Here in SC, there is, apparently, no poison or procedure for stopping it.
How do I eradicate the "myth" that is taking over my yard more slowly but just as surely as kudzu?
Signed: Joe-Sixpack (but with a non-hortaculture Ph.D.)

Hmmm, I'm not in the situation, but how hard is it to knock it down at the base twice a year? Is it really so horrible to stomp it under the azalias that you'd rather have the existing bamboo patches gone and the resulting lack of it being there?

Where is this bamboo coming from? If it is a neighbor, talk to the person about the situation.

tfriedlob,

My guesss is that you have an inconsiderate boo planter or a "wild" grove of aurea (or arrow, it is rampant here also) that is encroaching on your property.

If it is aurea, no way is anyone going to come dig this up for free for you in SC , as suggested above. (Boo does not run in the PNW like it does here and aurea/arrow are EVERYWHERE)

I suggest you do a search on this forum for "root pruning" and resign yourself to doing battle every fall. It is really not that hard to do if you have a good sharp spade. Less time than you would think!

Good luck doc!

I've been commisioned to remove some large timber & nigra 'Bory'. A small amount will be kept and contained within a concrete perimeter. With both people working nowadays(

Call me Johnny Lunchbucket but I agree with Joe Sixpack, the bamboo perception is no myth, perhaps overblown but no myth. Having said that I should restrict that statement to uncontrolled bamboo, and there's alot of it out there in suburbia. How many people just plant it and forget about it... I'd say most. And once out of bounds and out of control we all know how much work it is to tear it out.

tfriedlob, the most tried-and-true method of bamboo eradication is to dig up every single bit of rhizome. That 15' mystery rhizome may be pulled out in one long strand, or it may branch many times and require that you follow each and ever branch, and every branch's branch, etc. When finished you will likely later find that you missed some pieces, dig them out as soon as you find them.
An alternate plan is to just cut down every culm that you find, all the way down to where it is connected to the rhizome. It is important do cut them all the way down. Eventually the plant runs out of energy and dies, but in the meantime it puts up ever smaller and ever more numerous culms that are a nuisance to deal with.
There are other threads in this forum specifically dealing with terminating a bamboo infestation. None of them are much fun.

Interesting thread.

A couple thoughts:
Nearly every property I have ever seen of any character whatsoever has had SOME horticultural flaws.
For me on several properties it has been run away honeysuckle. Try getting ANYONE to come help haul THAT stuff away? Its just NOT going to happen. Or, it may be ivy everywhere, or privet.... Or, it may be hedges or large trees that have been pruned in such a way that the annual cycle of pruning cannot ever be safely abandoned. Not to mention the offensive aesthetic of mature trees that have been robbed of their natural form by the utility companies- forever. Or trees placed dangerously close to a house with large overhanging branches. Trees with annoyingly shallow roots that are impossible to garden under. ETc, etc. If I were a realtor with clients looking at a house that seemed perfect in every way except for some bamboo that was offputting to them- I would make sure they considered the 101 alternative landscaping nightmares that they either hadn't considered or have just learned to adapt to before they walked away nervously....

Ultimately, I think for most buyers- sufficient proof will be in the pudding- if the hedge is well kept, buyers will see the beauty. If its out of control, they are going to see chaos. Many houses I have previewed come with packets of info highlighting the houses attributes. I don't see why you couldnt include a little faq sheet about bamboo, playing up the positives like its renewability and usefulness and including its manageability with an explanation about annual root pruning.

If there is a clumper that does the job you need it to do in your area, then sure that MIGHT be the most saleable option, but only assuming you have a buyer savy enough to realize that there is more than one type of bamboo, or that is willing to listen/read. Remember- most people buying those little plants with the plastic pandas think they are actually getting bamboo and have trouble getting to the correct forum even when they are (obviously) interested in learning more. Im sure there are plenty of people who would be immune to Buddyboy's sign- who think they know what bamboo is and how bad it is- end of story.

I wonder if THIS is not the more relevant issue when it comes to resale value and perhaps where the participants of this forum might be blinded.... THE BIGGER QUESTION?!?!?!?!.....
Does it ultimately pay to have SO many DIFFERENT types of bamboo on a less than humongous lot?
Seems to me that people are VERY VERY fond of their big uninform hedges. And, alternately, that the ones who might appreciate a traditional mixed planting for the variety of plant form and bloom display it can offer may not see enough distinction between 15-30 different types of bamboo to offset what might just be interpreted as irregularity of growth. Have any of you attempted to give tours of your collection gardens and watched your non-gardening friends eyes cross as you tried to explain the difference between this species and the next? Friends who are not altogether immune to the beauty of nature, but just don't have that special bamboo "bug"? Honestly?
I've recently been convinced that rhizome pruning is a reasonable and reliable option of control, but THIS is the issue that I'm now struggling with.....
Ultimately, I will do what I decide I like but I've bought and sold too many properties not to give this some consideraiton. There has to be a balance, at least from my perspective. Frankly, I guess I still have to make that decision as to whether I find bamboo jum-com-bos aesthetically pleasing myself. I've formed little collections in a number of different plant genera, but in nothing as imposing as bamboo.