Occasionally, I search the internet for new and interesting gardening topics. YouTube videos can be especially rewarding. Some videos are science-based and professionally produced. Other videos present erroneous information or are simply amusing. I wrote about the downside of planting bamboo in 2017 and decided this week to review one of the toughest invasives to manage.

I found a video featuring an English gardener who wanted to transplant two large pots of golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) into a trench where they could grow into a screen between his garden and work area. He stated at the beginning that bamboo is invasive and must be contained in some way. To combat spreading, he hand-dug a deep trench and lined it with heavy black plastic at a depth of about 2 feet, several hours of backbreaking work. He could more easily have planted non-invasive shrubs as a screen.

Most of the more than 1,200 species of bamboo are native to temperate and tropical climates. Bamboos were in...