It has been said,
“If you want to be happy for a day, get drunk.
If you want to be happy for a year, get married.
If you want to be happy forever, plant a garden”
A possible caveat is that if you introduce certain species of plants into your garden, they can cause much unhappiness and incur substantial financial costs.
One such plant that has become increasingly common in the UK is bamboo. Often introduced because of its rapid growth, it can be used to rapidly fill space in a garden and create a hedge or screen relatively quickly. [1]
However, there are increasing reports of bamboo plants growing far beyond the places they were originally planted and causing structural damage to homes. This is down to two features of certain species of bamboo: fast growing rhizomes (underground stems) that can grow at a rate of around 1m per year[2]; and the strength of bamboo canes (which is sufficient to break through solid surfaces such as floors and walls of a building. [3]
Cases of property damage by invasive bamboo have become so severe and frequent that surveyors are now becoming increasingly likely to flag a bamboo infestation when examining a property for sale. The founder of an invasive plant specialist removal company has suggested “…bamboo is at least as destructive as Japanese knotweed, due to the astonishing rate at which the runners grow, enabling it to spread and cause damage more quickly” [4] with many people drawing comparisons between bamboo and Japanese knotweed.
Japanese knotweed, another plant that spreads rapidly via rhizomes and can grow through solid surfaces causing damage to structures, has been deemed such a menace that allowing it to spread from a garden into the wild would put someone in breach of several laws.[5] It is also mandatory for vendors to disclose the presence of the plant on any property when selling. [6] And it is another species that was once introduced into gardens on purpose as an ornamental plant![7]
Something that makes the problems surrounding invasive plants all the stranger is that these are far from the only times humans have introduced new species to an environment, only to suffer unintended and grave misfortune. In Britan, it is estimated that approximately 200 – 300 harmful non-native species have been introduced. [8] However, this is also a global problem. There are examples of harmful species introduced into new environments in numerous places in the world, some by accident, some with the intention of controlling a native pest or providing prey to hunt for sport.[9]
One of the most famous examples is the cane toad, which was originally introduced to Australia as a form of biological control[10] in the hope it would help keep the numbers of grey backed cane beetles that were a threat to the sugar cane crop. When released into the wild the toads did nothing to control the beetle number but rapidly multiplied and substantially reduced both the populations of predator species the tried to consume the venomous toads, and populations of insect species that were the toads consumed. [11]
It would be wonderful to think that humans have learnt their lesson and will now carefully consider the impact introduction of a new species into an ecosystem. However, I also reminded of another famous saying …. history repeats itself.
[1] https://www.idealhome.co.uk/garden/garden-advice/invasive-bamboo-garden-warning
[2] https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/grasses/bamboo-control
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/11/big-british-bamboo-crisis-invaded-my-beautiful-home
[4] https://propertyindustryeye.com/estate-agents-warned-about-potential-problems-caused-by-invasive-bamboo/
[5] https://www.knotweedhelp.com/japanese-knotweed-law/#Japanese_knotweed_new_legislation
[6] https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/press-office/press-releases/material-information-included-in-new-property-form
[7] https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/japanese-knotweed
[8] https://www.nonnativespecies.org/non-native-species/
[9] https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-are-invasive-species.html
[10] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z8rmk2p/revision/5
[11] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zggqcj6/revision/6