Bamboo Shield Root Barrier

It goes by your USDA zone and the size of your bamboo. Zones 4–7: 24 in for bamboo up to about 25 ft, 30 in for anything larger, timber bamboo included. Zone 8: 30 in. Zones 9–11: 36 in. Can’t name your bamboo or its mature height? Use the larger-bamboo row for your zone (30 in in zones 4–8, 36 in in 9–11). Most running-bamboo rhizomes stay in the top 12 to 18 in of soil. Set with a 2 in lip, the three depths reach 22, 28 and 34 in down.

Usually not. Most clumping bamboo spreads slowly and needs no barrier. If you want a firm edge around a clumper anyway, near a pool, foundation or property line, use the 36 in, 100 mil depth. Not sure which kind you have? Plan for running bamboo.

Go one depth deeper: 30 in instead of 24 in, or 36 in instead of 30 in. Already at 36 in? Stay at 36 in.

Dig a test hole about 30 in deep at the edge of the grove. Choose the depth whose trench bottom sits at least 4 in below the deepest rhizome you find. The trench bottom is the barrier depth minus the 2 in lip: 22 in for 24 in, 28 in for 30 in and 34 in for 36 in. Example: if the deepest rhizome is 20 in down, the trench bottom must be at least 24 in down, so choose 30 in (a 28 in trench). If the test hole and the chart point to different depths, use the deeper one. Call 811 before you dig.

Each depth comes in one thickness, so you choose by depth: 24 in is 60 mil, 30 in is 80 mil and 36 in is 100 mil. In the ASTM D4833 puncture test they measure 130, 155 and 200 lbf. Thickness is only one part of the job. Depth, clamped joints and a clear 2 in lip matter too.

Leave 2 in above the finished soil. Dig the trench 2 in shallower than the barrier: 22 in for the 24 in barrier, 28 in for 30 in and 34 in for 36 in. The lip is where you spot a rhizome trying to cross, so keep mulch, soil and leaves off it.

Set the smooth face toward the bamboo and tilt the top slightly away from it. Rhizomes that reach the barrier turn up toward the 2 in lip, where you can see and cut them. If you are blocking a neighbor’s bamboo, the smooth face points at their side and the top leans toward your yard.

Overlap the ends at least 12 in and clamp them with the stainless connecting kit: two 1.5 in stainless straps plus hardware, one kit per joint. Tape is not a seal. Add 12 in to your order for each joint, and use one continuous piece when the run allows it.

Measure the full barrier line, add 12 in for every joint where two ends overlap, and round up to the next 5 ft. A closed loop has one joint for each piece. The “How much do I need?” calculator above does the math for straight runs, rectangles and circles.

The loop is 20 + 30 + 20 + 30 = 100 ft. In one piece it has one joint, so 100 + 1 = 101 ft, rounded up to 105 ft. At 24 in, order one 105 ft cut and one connecting kit. At 30 or 36 in, the longest piece is 100 or 70 ft, so the loop takes two pieces and two joints: 100 + 2 = 102 ft. Order two cuts that add up to 105 ft, such as 55 and 50 ft, and two kits. The calculator splits a run into equal cuts, so it shows 2 × 55 ft = 110 ft; either works.

Close to it. We cut one continuous piece to the length you order, in 5 ft steps, from a 20 ft minimum. The longest piece is 175 ft at 24 in, 100 ft at 30 in and 70 ft at 36 in. For a longer run, order more than one cut and clamp them together.

Each cut ships as one box, and boxes stay under 110 lb. Deeper, thicker barrier weighs more per foot: about 0.6 lb at 24 in, 1.0 lb at 30 in and 1.5 lb at 36 in. That sets the longest piece at 175, 100 and 70 ft. For a longer run, order more than one cut and clamp them together.

Bamboo Shield is HDPE made in the USA. Judge it by the test: in ASTM D4833 puncture testing it measures 130 lbf at 60 mil, 155 lbf at 80 mil and 200 lbf at 100 mil. Each depth lists its result in the specs on this page.

Once or twice a year, walk the outside of the barrier line and cut any rhizome that crosses the lip. Keep mulch and soil off the 2 in lip, so a rhizome crossing it is easy to see.

Dig out every rhizome outside the line, before or while you set the barrier. No depth stops a rhizome that is already outside, and bamboo left there keeps growing until you remove it.

Shipping is free, and we ship to the lower 48 states only, by FedEx Home Delivery or FedEx Ground. Orders placed before 2 pm Central on a business day usually ship that day; later orders ship the next business day. You can return an order within 30 days of delivery, cut rolls included, if it is unused and uninstalled. You pay the return shipping, and we refund your original payment within 5 business days of receiving the return. If something arrives damaged, email photos to hello@protechplastic.com within 7 days of delivery and we will send a replacement.