First, know your foe. You can spot clumping bamboo because it’s polite—it stays in a tidy bunch, like a well-behaved houseguest. That’s the easy kind.
The one you hate is running bamboo. This jerk sends out rhizomes that can travel thirty feet in a season, popping up spears in your neighbor’s rose bushes and your driveway cracks. It’s the botanical equivalent of that guy who can’t take a hint at a party.
Surprising fact: some running bamboo can grow three feet in a single day. That’s faster than you can decide what to order for takeout. So if you blink, you might have a new front porch.
