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

Sec. 18.5-18 states the county's finding that running bamboo is destructive to neighboring property and property values, and declares the county's intent to regulate its planting and growth. Sec. 18.5-19 defines 'running bamboo' as any tropical or semi-tropical grass with a monopodial (leptomorph) rhizome system that spreads aggressively, expressly including the genus Phyllostachys, and distinguishes it from non-spreading 'clumping bamboo'; bamboo found to have encroached onto another property is presumed running bamboo, though the presumption can be rebutted. Sec. 18.5-20(a) and (b) require a landowner whose property grows running bamboo to prevent it from spreading onto any adjoining property the landowner does not own, or within 15 feet of a public right-of-way or roadway, and to install an effective containment measure to that end.

Sec. 18.5-20(c) excuses a landowner whose property was invaded from a neighbor's bamboo, if they did not plant it, gave the neighbor written notice objecting to the spread, and took steps, including legal remedies, to remove it. Sec. 18.5-21 defines an 'appropriate containment measure' as any barrier or trench that is impenetrable to running bamboo and installed at sufficient depth to stop it from reaching adjoining land or the 15-foot right-of-way buffer. Sec. 18.5-22 sets the civil penalty ladder and bars double punishment for the same conduct under both this article and the weeds/nuisance section, Sec. 14-14.