Stafford County, VA Invasive Plant Rules: Bamboo Restrictions (2026)

Section 24-16 defines "running bamboo" as any bamboo characterized by aggressive spreading behavior, including species in the genus Phyllostachys. Section 24-20 then imposes two independent duties on landowners: subsection (a) forbids allowing running bamboo to grow without appropriate containment measures, specifically naming barriers or trenching as acceptable methods, and subsection (b) forbids allowing running bamboo to spread from the landowner's property onto any public right-of-way or onto adjoining property the landowner does not own. This containment duty runs alongside, but is enforced separately from, the general vegetation-maintenance duties in sections 24-17 and 24-18, which also require owners of both vacant and occupied residential property to "maintain running bamboo at all times" as part of routine grass and weed control.

Section 24-19(b) makes clear a bamboo violation under 24-20(a) or (b) is not also charged as a mowing violation under 24-17(a) or 24-18(a) arising from the same facts, so a property owner is not penalized twice for the identical bamboo problem under both provisions.