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

Section 19-6(g) of the York County Code targets 'running bamboo,' defined as any bamboo characterized by aggressive spreading behavior, expressly including species in the genus Phyllostachys, the fast-spreading golden and black bamboos planted for privacy screens on the Peninsula. The ordinance imposes two duties on landowners: first, running bamboo must be kept under proper upkeep with containment measures such as physical barriers and trenching so it cannot escape a planting bed; second, a landowner must never allow the bamboo to spread from their own lot onto a public right-of-way or onto an adjoining property they do not own.

The rule sits inside the broader maintenance-of-premises section, Section 19-6, which the County Administrator enforces by investigating complaints and issuing written notices to property owners found in violation. Under subsection (h)(3), if a landowner served with a running-bamboo violation notice fails to install adequate containment measures, that failure is cause for assessment of the penalties referenced in the section. The bamboo rule turns on the plant actually crossing the property line onto a right-of-way or a neighbor's land, not merely growing on the planting owner's own lot, so a contained stand on private property does not by itself violate Section 19-6(g).