What fools these mortals be. Or, maybe the foolish act of planting bamboo is the origin of the word “bamboozled”. (It’s not.) The foolish part is planting bamboo without a very specific, accurate identification of type – and a management plan. There are two main types: clumping and running. The latter mainly is the stuff of homeowner nightmares, but both types can be problematic without focused management.

Despite the numerous world-wide benefits – forage, privacy screening, quickly renewable and durable building materials – perhaps the largest negative is bamboo’s threat to bio-diversity. It simply takes over and doesn’t allow space for diverse species of plant life.