Bowling Green, KY Invasive Plant Rules: Bamboo Restrictions (2026)

The Bowling Green Code of Ordinances does not contain a bamboo-specific section. Kentucky has not designated bamboo as a noxious weed under KRS 176.051 (the statute authorizing the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and other agencies to eradicate noxious weeds and invasive plants on state right-of-way), and bamboo is not on the USDA Federal Noxious Weed List for Kentucky. However, the Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council (KY-EPPC, affiliated with the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council) and the 2009 Kentucky Forest Inventory and Analysis both document Phyllostachys spp. (running bamboo, including golden bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea) and Bambusa spp. as invasive species established on Kentucky forest land. Within Bowling Green city limits, spreading bamboo onto a neighbor's property is generally handled as a private civil/common-law nuisance: the neighboring property owner may cut back the rhizomes and stems at the property line and, in serious cases, may file a private nuisance suit. If bamboo (or any other vegetation) grows tall, dense, or unmaintained enough to qualify as 'overgrown vegetation' or to harbor vermin, it may be cited by City Code Compliance under the City's nuisance-vegetation and lot-maintenance provisions (handled by the Code Enforcement and Nuisance Board under Section 2-21). Best practice for homeowners considering bamboo: plant only clumping bamboo (Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' and similar) rather than running bamboo, or - if running bamboo is desired - install a 24-30 inch deep HDPE rhizome barrier around the planting area and trench/inspect annually. Other invasive plants in the region that the City discourages include Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), garlic mustard, autumn olive, and tree-of-heaven; none are currently the subject of a Bowling Green-specific city ban.