Location: St Teath, Cornwall
Client: Private homeowner
Services: Bamboo removal, invasive plant control, targeted herbicide treatment, root/rhizome removal, garden fencing, hedge planting
Project type: Three-phase garden boundary restoration

Client Brief

We were contacted by a private homeowner in St Teath to deal with a large screen of bamboo that had been planted along the top of a stone-faced bank.

The bamboo had originally been planted to create screening, which is a fairly common reason people put it in. The problem was that it had started to spread aggressively. It was moving through the existing laurel hedge, into the stone-faced bank, and towards neighbouring land that was being prepared as a building plot.

By the time we were asked to look at it, the job was no longer just about cutting bamboo down. The client needed the bamboo removed, the root structure reduced as much as possible, the exposed boundary made secure, and the area replanted so it did not look like a bare clearance site.

We split the project into three phases: bamboo removal and treatment, fencing, and replanting.

THRC Solution

Phase One: Cutting, Treating and Digging Out the Bamboo

Bamboo can be a real problem when the wrong type is planted in the wrong place.

Some bamboo spreads through underground rhizomes, and once those rhizomes move into banks, hedges or neighbouring land, cutting the stems alone will not solve it. The root structure has to be exposed and reduced as much as possible, then monitored and treated again as new shoots appear.

The first stage was to cut the bamboo back and remove the above-ground growth. All cut material was removed from site and disposed of through a controlled green waste route.

Once the stems were cut, our PA1 and PA6 qualified operatives carried out a targeted herbicide treatment to the exposed bamboo growth. This was not blanket spraying. It was controlled treatment to the areas where it was needed.

We then returned to dig out as much of the bamboo root and rhizome structure as possible. Around 1.5 tonnes of root material was removed from the site and disposed of through controlled green waste.

This part of the job had to be done carefully. The bamboo had grown into and around the stone-faced bank, so sections had to be teased out delicately rather than ripped out and left to damage the wall. Once the root material was removed, any new shoots were treated again.

 

Phase Two: Rebuilding the Boundary With Fencing

Once the bamboo had been removed, the boundary was left open and exposed.

At the same time, contractors had started work on the neighbouring building plot, with footings being dug close to the boundary. The client needed a proper screen and a clear division between the garden and the land behind.

We installed a 6ft high, 15m long hit-and-miss timber fence along the exposed boundary behind the bank.

The fence was built from treated softwood and set in concrete. Hit-and-miss fencing was a good choice for this situation because it gives privacy and screening while still allowing some airflow through the structure. It also gives a more considered finish than a plain solid fence panel, especially where the boundary is visible from the garden.

The fencing phase turned the area from a recently cleared, exposed edge into a defined garden boundary again.

 

Phase Three: Replanting the Gap

The final phase was to replant the area in front of the new fence.

The bamboo had previously filled the space, but once removed it left a clear gap between two existing hedge lines. To bring the boundary back together, we planted Griselinia at 5 stems per metre.

Griselinia was chosen because it is a fast-growing evergreen hedging plant that will provide year-round screening and help soften the fence over time. It will also connect the two existing hedgerows visually, making the boundary feel complete again rather than patched up.

This was important for the final appearance of the garden. Removing the bamboo solved the problem, but the replanting is what made the area feel finished.

End Result

The aggressive bamboo was cut, treated and dug out, with around 1.5 tonnes of root structure removed from site.

The exposed boundary was then reinstated with a 6ft hit-and-miss timber fence, and the area in front was replanted with a new Griselinia hedge to join the existing hedge lines back together.

For THRC, this was a good example of dealing with an invasive or aggressively spreading plant problem properly. It was not enough to cut the bamboo and walk away. The project needed a phased approach: remove the immediate growth, reduce the root structure, treat regrowth, rebuild the boundary, and replant the space so the garden had a proper long-term finish.

It was part invasive plant control, part fencing project, and part garden restoration.

That is often the reality with this sort of work. The plant is the problem, but the real job is putting the area back into use afterwards.

 

Services Included

  • Bamboo removal
  • Aggressive spreading plant control
  • Invasive plant control
  • Targeted herbicide treatment
  • PA1 / PA6 herbicide application
  • Root and rhizome removal
  • Controlled green waste disposal
  • Stone-faced bank protection
  • Boundary clearance
  • Hit-and-miss fencing
  • 6ft timber garden fencing
  • Treated softwood fence installation
  • Concrete post setting
  • Garden boundary reinstatement
  • Griselinia hedge planting
  • Evergreen hedge planting
  • Domestic garden restoration