LAOP is a feeling bamboozled

Yet another BOLA lesson in what to look for when buying a house: if the neighbor has bamboo along the lot line, find out if it has a proper rhizome barrier. I've definitely seen bamboo cause problems before but I don't think I've heard about it going that far from its original plant - definitely not something I would want to deal with.

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Title: Neighbors invasive bamboo has ruined our backyard and may be damaging our property. Legally, how responsible are they to help fix?

Body:

Our neighbor has 8 ft tall golden/fishpole/bamboo, along the lot line on their side of the fence (SE Michigan).

As a running bamboo species, the roots have completely taken over our backyard, and have started shooting up sharp painful spikes up to 15+ feet away from the fence all over our backyard. This is our first spring in the house.

We have many issues with this, but a short list is:

1. We can’t walk barefoot in our own backyard and do normal backyard activities.

2. my raised bed gardens already have bamboo popping up, which will require excavation

3. shortly before we found the issue, we installed an inflatable hot tub, which is now at risk for popping

4. it looks like it may be the cause of the cracking in our concrete pad/driveway on the other side of the lot line (found roots 2 feet away and headed that direction)

5. I’m finding bamboo shoots 1 inch away from our home’s foundation, and am concerned about it deteriorating faster because of the extremely strong root system

After a short google search, the responsible way to plant running bamboo is with a rhizome barrier 2-3 feet deep and 6 inches above ground to prevent invasion into adjacent properties but this did not happen. I have struggled to find Michigan info banning this species, but there is online unanimity that it’s invasive and would be irresponsible to plant on a lot line without a rhizome barrier.

Now, our entire backyard will need to be dug up as we play “find the invasive rhizomes” starting with where shoots are popping up, then dig a 2-3 foot deep trench and 6 in tall rhizome barrier will need to be installed along the lot line for 3/4 of our backyard, and 1/4 of our front yard. We are super not excited about this.

Of course I’m going to try to have a friendly chat with the neighbor and ask for their physical support in root removal (it’s going to take hundreds of hours with just my husband and I and we could use the help, if they are able and willing) and either removal of the bamboo or financial support for the trench/rhizome barrier on our side to prevent future damage.

This seems incredibly fair, given it would be thousand to pay a service to remove the roots and install a barrier, but we think we can do the labor mostly ourselves and just want financial help for the rhizome barrier (~1,000). At this point, I don’t know how extensive the damage is to the house or driveway so I don’t plan to ask for anything in regards to that, unless new damaging information is revealed during rhizome excavation.

Do they have any legal responsibility or requirement to keep invasive plants on their property? Could they tell us to pound sand and we be SOL? Should we be more upfront about bringing in a professional on their dime because it’s their irresponsibility that lead to this giant nuisance and damage?

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Ugh, I have bamboo and it's absolutely a love/hate relationship. Even with the barrier and a sand strip it tries to jump over and requires regular maintenance to keep it in line.

It covers a hideous retaining wall though, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.