Closet Gardners & Lawn Gurus

[Raven]

i went ballistic in my yard this spring....and cut down at least 75 18 footers
via chainsaw and just yesterday i noticed all these little red frilly thangs popping up on the huge lawn like 30 feet from where the stand of sumac trees were....
[we had to get a burning permit to destroy the huge amount i cut back.]

the stuff is resilient i have to say that ......its a friggan menace for sure.
its new englands kudzu....

[spence]

I'd bet money this is the evil specimen you're all talking about...no idea what it's called, but it makes the runners from my strawberries look like nothing.

-spence

[Swimmer]

The pic the Spence posted is Zumas no doubt but I think what the initial question pertains is the more bamboo like medium grren hollow shoots with red intersperse along the shoot. I never had any until my father-in-planted a shoot of a lilac tree he bought in my yard. Now I work at pulling it out. I will start spraying with Wee-B-gon when the wife isn't looking.

[spence]

I'd stand by my wager. Zumus or whatever it is looks like like little bamboo shoots when the runners surface.

Regardless, I hate the stuff

-spence

[Bill L]

Sunds like Japanese bamboo or knotweed --

An invasive perennial that spread by rhizomes and seeds. Japanese knotweed can grow to a height of 13 feet, and has stems that resemble bamboo when mature. Japanese knotweed was introduced to the United States from Japan as an ornamental, and now occurs as a weed of riverbanks, landscapes, abandoned fields, or other moist areas.


It is a beotch to get rid of--- try Ortho Brush-B-Gone, stuff is good on the tougher bushy weeds

[BEETLE]

thats the weed i got, can't get a buzz if you smoke it niether

[FishermanTim]

How's this for an interesting twist.
As a kid, we used to cut off a stalk, and there was usually a small amount of bittersweet water at each "knuckle" of the plant. We used to call it "a natural canteen" Although it wasn't the best tasting "water" around, nobody ever got sick from drinking it.