Loveland, CO Invasive Plant Rules: Bamboo Restrictions (2026)

A review of Loveland Municipal Code Title 16 (Nuisances), the City of Loveland's landscape plant list, and the Colorado Noxious Weed Act species list maintained by the Colorado Department of Agriculture returns no bamboo-specific provision. Colorado's Noxious Weed list (List A: eradicate, List B: stop spread, List C: locally significant) contains over 140 species — none are bamboo (Phyllostachys, Bambusa, Fargesia, or other genera). The City of Loveland's noxious-plant list — published per Title 16 Nuisances and used to disqualify plants from approved landscape plans — calls out Canada thistle, Chinese clematis, common teasel, cypress spurge, Dame's rocket, diffuse knapweed, and other state-listed species, but does not include bamboo. The Larimer County Weed District enforces the Colorado Noxious Weed Act across the county and does not flag bamboo. Running (spreading) bamboo on a residential lot is therefore a private civil matter (HOA covenants, common-law nuisance) unless it grows tall/dense enough to be cited under Loveland's general nuisance vegetation rules in Title 16. In 2025, the Colorado State Legislature amended the Colorado Noxious Weed Act to authorize local governments to levy fines against private landowners for state and local noxious-weed violations — still, bamboo is not on the list. Best practice in Northern Colorado is clumping bamboo (Fargesia spp.) over running varieties, with a 24-30 inch deep root barrier when planting runners.