PlantLegitIs it illegal? › Running bamboo › Virginia
Is running bamboo illegal in Virginia?
Sources (6)
- Virginia Code § 15.2-901.1 – Running bamboo control by localities (Virginia Legislative Information System)
- Virginia Code § 15.2-901 – Locality removal of grass, weeds and other growth (Virginia Legislative Information System)
- Fancher v. Fagella (Va. 2007) – FindLaw case law
- Running bamboo ordinance – Fauquier County, Virginia (local government)
- Bamboo removal and maintenance price list – Austin Bamboo (contractor; used for cost estimates only)
- Bamboo services and supplies price list – Beauty and the Bamboo (contractor; used for cost estimates only)
Last checked against the Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov): 2026-10-14.
What the statutes say (6)
Va. Code § 15.2-901.1 — Locality may provide for control of running bamboo; civil penalty
Enacted 2017 (Acts 2017, cc. 213, 392). Virginia Code § 15.2-901.1 – Running bamboo control by localities (Virginia Legislative Information System).
- Definition (A): “‘running bamboo’ means any bamboo that is characterized by aggressive spreading behavior, including species in the genus Phyllostachys.”
- What a locality may require (B): “Any locality may, by ordinance, provide that: 1. No landowner shall allow running bamboo to grow without proper upkeep and appropriate containment measures, including barriers or trenching; and 2. No landowner shall allow running bamboo to spread from his property to any public right-of-way or adjoining property not owned by the landowner.”
- Penalty (C): civil penalty “not to exceed $50 for the first violation”; subsequent violations within 12 months “shall not exceed $200”; “Each business day during which the same violation is found to have existed shall constitute a separate offense”; total capped at “$3,000 in a 12-month period.”
- (D): the same facts cannot be penalized under both this section and a § 15.2-901 ordinance.
Va. Code § 15.2-901 — removal of trash, cutting of grass, weeds, and running bamboo
Most recently amended 2026 (cc. 294, 295). Virginia Code § 15.2-901 – Locality removal of grass, weeds and other growth (Virginia Legislative Information System).
- (A)(3): a locality may require owners to “cut the grass, weeds, and other foreign growth, including running bamboo as defined in § 15.2-901.1,” and may, “after reasonable notice,” have it cut by its own agents, “in which event the cost and expenses thereof shall be chargeable to and paid by the owner of such property and may be collected by the locality as taxes are collected.”
- Limits in the same subdivision: a county ordinance has no effect inside a town; in counties under 500 people per square mile it applies only in platted subdivisions or areas zoned residential, business, commercial or industrial; it does not apply to land zoned for or in active farming operation.
Who pays?
- Containment: the landowner — the ordinance duty in § 15.2-901.1(B) is on the “landowner” who allows bamboo to grow uncontained or to spread.
- Fines: the landowner in violation, up to $50 / $200 per violation, max $3,000 per 12 months (§ 15.2-901.1(C)).
- Cutting done by the locality: billed to the property owner and collectible like taxes (§ 15.2-901(A)(3)).
- Damage to a neighbor's property: neither statute creates a private right to damages. We found no Virginia statute making owners liable to neighbors for bamboo damage. Neighbors' remedies come from case law: in Fancher v. Fagella (Va. 2007), the Supreme Court of Virginia held encroaching plants may be a nuisance when they cause actual harm or imminent danger of harm, and the owner “may be held responsible for harm caused,” while a neighbor may still cut encroaching growth back to the line at their own expense. Ask a Virginia attorney about your situation.
Local ordinances may apply
The statutes only authorize local rules; whether they apply to you depends on whether your city, county or town adopted one. For example, Fauquier County adopted bamboo ordinances in 2020. Search your locality's code for “bamboo.”
Rough cost estimates (not quotes)
| Item | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trench for containment | $14 per linear foot | Austin Bamboo price list (Texas) |
| Plastic barrier + installation | $7 per linear foot | same |
| Professional root removal | $7.82–$31.32 per sq ft, by depth and bamboo type | same |
| Root barrier material, 24″–30″ deep, 40 mil | $3.25–$3.50 per linear foot | Beauty & the Bamboo price list (Seattle area) |
Estimates from contractors' published price lists as of 2026-10-14, outside Virginia. Virginia prices vary by site, access, rhizome depth and disposal. Get several local quotes. Example: 100 ft of trench + barrier at these rates ≈ $2,100.
Species pages
Golden bamboo in VirginiaYellow groove bamboo in VirginiaGolden bamboo, all statesYellow groove bamboo, all states
Native alternative for screening: giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea), recorded as native to Virginia in USDA PLANTS. See Virginia's plant laws.
Not legal advice. We quote the official statutes and link them; the official text controls. Local ordinances differ. Full disclaimer.