Bamboo Shield Installation

Install Bamboo Shield to define the edge of your running bamboo. Choose the depth for your climate, bamboo and soil, then follow these steps. Call 811 before you dig.

Check your depth

Test hole: dig about 30 in deep at the edge of the grove, and pick the depth whose trench bottom (the barrier depth minus 2 in) sits at least 4 in below the deepest rhizome you find. If the test hole and the chart point to different depths, use the deeper one.

Loose or sandy soil: go one depth deeper (24 in to 30 in, 30 in to 36 in). Already at 36 in: stay at 36 in.

  1. Cut back bamboo outside the control area

    Clear the line

    Dig out any rhizomes already past the line; no depth stops a rhizome that is already outside. Cut back bamboo growing outside the area you want to contain. (Skip this for a brand-new planting.)

  2. Digging a trench with a shovel

    Dig the trench — by hand

    Dig the trench 2 in shallower than the barrier: 22 in for 24 in, 28 in for 30 in, 34 in for 36 in.

  3. Digging a trench with a machine trencher

    …or by machine

    A trencher can help on open, accessible ground. Use the same trench depths: 22 in for 24 in, 28 in for 30 in, 34 in for 36 in.

  4. Preparing the trench for the barrier

    Prepare the trench

    Check the trench depth and clear any debris so the barrier can seat against the trench wall with 2 in left above finished soil.

  5. Setting the barrier into the trench

    Set the barrier

    Set the smooth face toward the bamboo, with the top tilted slightly outward and 2 in left above finished soil. Backfill, tamping as you go to flatten any waves and help the soil settle.

  6. Cutting stray shoots after installation

    After installation

    Check the outside of the line once or twice a year and cut any rhizome crossing the lip. Dig out any rhizomes already past the line.

Pro tips

  • Lay the barrier out in the sun before you start — the warmth relaxes it and it uncoils.
  • Tamp as you backfill to flatten any waves and cut soil-settling time.
  • Leave 2 in above finished soil and keep the lip visible. Check for rhizomes crossing it once or twice a year.

Overlap ends at least 12 in and clamp them with the stainless connecting kit. Tape is not a seal. See the clamp instructions. Prefer a no-dig option? Root pruning works too — and here's how bamboo grows if you're new to it.

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Bamboo Shield, Sidewalk Shield, Grass Barrier and Pier Protector are ProTech Plastic brands. ProTech Plastic, Lewis Bamboo and Edge Right are Super-Sod companies.

Bamboo Shield at ProTech Plastic