Garden Q&A: Help! My neighbor's bamboo is invading my yard

My neighbor has bamboo growing along our fence line, and now bamboo shoots are coming up in my yard. How can I get rid of the shoots and stop more from coming up?

Bamboo has no respect for property lines. It's really a giant grass, and many hardy bamboo species spread by sending out shallow rhizomes that pop through to the surface as shoots, the growing tips of the canes.

Two to three times a year, you could use a sharp spade to slice off the new shoots that appear on your property. Once severed, they'll die back and won't need to be dug up. If you were to use an herbicide to kill the bamboo on your side of the fence line, your neighbor's mother plant could be seriously damaged.

Because it's virtually impossible to stop bamboo from spreading, the American Bamboo Society recommends installing a concrete or fabric barrier that works like an underground fence. Also recommended is a trench 18 inches deep and 12 inches wide filled with small pebbles or pea gravel.

There are many clumping bamboos that are not invasive that make nice landscape plants. Go to www.bamboo.org for more information.

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Do I need to use a rooting hormone when propagating houseplants?

If you apply root-promoting chemicals to the basal 1/2 inch of cuttings before sticking them into the medium, you can enhance rooting of some plants. These chemicals are primarily composed of synthetic auxins (plant hormones); most commonly, IBA (indole-3-butyric acid), NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) or IAA (Indole-3- acetic acid) are used.

Commercially prepared talc formulations are available at most garden centers. Rootone is one of the most popular brands. Some talc formulations of auxins also contain a fungicide to help prevent disease during rooting. Be careful; if you apply the talc powder too heavily, it may burn off the base of some cuttings.

When using these products, remove a small amount of the talc powder from its container and place it into a smaller container. Then dip or dust your cuttings from that portion. When finished, discard the small amount of rooting compound that you used. This protects future cuttings by preventing any potential disease contamination from the cutting to the hormone formulation.

What are the shield-shaped, brightly colored insects that seem to enjoy my cabbage more than I do?

No doubt you are describing harlequin bugs. This is one of the stinkbugs and can be a real problem on cabbage and related plants if left unchecked.

The harlequin bug injures the host plants by sucking the sap of the plants, causing the plants to wilt, brown and die.

Hand destruction of the adults in the fall and spring as they emerge from hibernation before they lay eggs is an effective control.

The bugs may be controlled with dusts or sprays of insecticides applied to the foliage. Check label recommendations, or contact your local extension office for insecticide recommendations.

Tom Bruton is a master gardener with the Duval County Extension Service and the University of Florida/IFAS.