Wayne, NJ Invasive Plant Rules: Bamboo Restrictions (2026)

Bamboo is covered twice in Wayne Township. Section 99-52 lists all types of Bamboo, Bambusa, Phyllostachys and Pseudosasa, plus common, golden and arrow bamboo, as Prohibited Plants. Section 99-53A forbids new plantings, and a dead or removed plant cannot be replaced. Section 99-53B then sets conditions for bamboo already growing on a residential property when Article VII took effect.

For in-ground bamboo, no part of the plant can reach the Buffer Zone, which § 99-52 defines as a distance of at least five feet from any street, road or public right-of-way and ten feet from any adjoining property. The plants must be kept as a decorative hedge not above 6 feet. A property owner who prefers a container must use corrugated metal or high-density polypropylene or polyethylene at least 1/16 of an inch thick and place it at least five feet from any property line. A container that fails to contain the plant is a violation. Existing bamboo also cannot grow into a public right-of-way or block a vehicular line-of-sight.

Removal is by notice. When bamboo is found planted in the ground in violation, § 99-53C gives the property owner 30 days to remove or abate. Abatement can mean physically removing plants in the Buffer Zone, poisoning them in accordance with industry standards, or installing metal or other impenetrable sheathing no less than five feet from the property line at a depth that stops growth into the Buffer Zone. The owner pays the cost. The notice goes by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the tax address on file, and the Code Enforcement Officer inspects under § 99-54A.

Between neighbors, § 99-54D preserves existing rights: the article does not alter any right at common law or otherwise that an owner has to recover the cost of removing running bamboo from the owner of the property where it started.