[header] How to kill bamboo [title] Cut the bamboo down to soil level and wait for new shoots to grow back. [step] Before you spray new bamboo leaves, make sure that you either cut or mow it down and then allow it to regrow. It sounds weird, but you need to let new bamboo grow. 
Bamboo herbicide won't be effective if the canes of the bamboo are well-developed. [substeps] Bamboo is stringy but not very hard.