Homeowner’s bamboo warning after neighbour’s plant left him having to knock down conservatory

The couple hadn’t thought much of the bamboo in garden of the house next door but then green shoots began to appear through their walls

Homeowners have been issued a warning over an invasive plant which has been dubbed the new Japanese knotweed. Bamboo is strong enough to pierce tarmac and walls and if not spotted can leave people with hefty bills to remove it and repair the damage it causes.

The warning comes as one couple is being forced to demolish their conservatory after bamboo spread from a neighbour’s home and began to emerge from the walls and floor. The so-called “running” varieties of bamboo can spread further and faster even than the notorious Japanese knotweed if planted directly into the ground, according to invasive plant specialist Environet.

The couple had been living in the detached property outside Brighton for a year when they noticed leaves sprouting from the floor of the conservatory where it joins the main house. They also spotted it coming from a crack in the wall.

Unsure what it was, they dug up the path between their home and the one next door and discovered a mass of bamboo rhizome. On lifting sections of the floor and removing sections of plaster from the walls, Environet were called in and discovered an extensive network of mature bamboo rhizome beneath the concrete base of the conservatory, growing inside the cavity walls and extending into the brickwork of the house, reports The Mirror.

The conservatory is now being demolished at the cost of the neighbour’s building insurer under a liability damage claim. The householder, who wants to remain anonymous, said said: “There was a large stand of bamboo growing next door when we bought the property, but we didn’t think anything of it and nothing came up on the survey.