Homeowner gets back at inconsiderate neighbors who keep throwing trash over the fence by planting impossible-to-remove bamboo all over their yard: 'You reap what you sow'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
May 24, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Bamboo might be pretty, if you're into that sort of aesthetic, but it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. The natural adaptation of bamboo to assume an aesthetic form was almost one of the greatest forms of evolution it could have managed. Now, people plant it in their backyard, mistakenly thinking that they're creating an oasis, when really they're creating a nightmare of their own making. Once bamboo goes in, it's never coming out, shooting off underground "runners" that can cover surprising distances and that are nearly impossible to remove.

I once had a colleague who bought a house without realizing the previous owners had planted bamboo; their cleverly concealed mistake soon became apparent, and it had spread under the deck and was threatening the foundations of the house itself. He spent ages trying to remove it and it was a costly endeavor. I left that job before his task was finished, so I don't know if he ever truly managed to win the battle against a trumped-up giant blade of grass.

If you've ever encountered bamboo in your garden, you know how dastardly this act of neighborly retribution is. We wouldn't encourage any attempt at this in real life, but these neighbors surely had it coming.

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  • 01

    "Neighbors wouldn't quit dumping their trash in my backyard, so I returned it to them with some upgrades..."

    I live in a house, but there's an apartment complex directly behind the back fence in my yard. The entire time I've lived here, I've always found random trash tossed over the fence that has gotten progressively worse. The most annoying thing is all the glass beer
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 02
    blash
    via Swati B
  • 03
    bottles as some of them hit concrete and shatter, which makes it unsafe to let my dog run in the yard. It's such trashy and inconsiderate behavior from people I've never even met, and I finally started trying to push back. First I tried the legal route. I reported the illegal dumping to 311
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 04
    as I couldn't figure out how to contact the building manager and it was to the point of entire full trashbags ending up in my yard. They said they couldn't do anything and I would be responsible for cleaning it up since it was in my yard. Annoying, but basically also gave me the greenlight to throw
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 05
    s t back over the fence as 311 pretty plainly told me it only came down to whose yard the trash was in. So I went out with gloves and threw every single piece of trash back over the fence. Full trashbags, dirty shoes, beer bottles, used diapers, etc. These people think my
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 06
    yard is their personal dump, and it's not even one neighbor doing it. I caught multiple residents of this apartment complex on camera casually tossing trash over the fence. Not even a full day later and these losers had thrown it all back over.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 07
    The f king audacity. It's not even just laziness at that point as it would be significantly easier to just take it to the apartment's dumpsters, but they somehow feel entitled to throw trash into my yard enough that they'd literally return it when I threw it back.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 08
    Fair enough, two can play at that game. First, I threw all the full trashbags back over, but not just onto the ground. I tossed them all the way up to the roof of the apartment complex, which isn't easily accessible and is far from ideal given we're in a tropical
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 09
    climate that will make it smell quickly up there. Next, I took all the dirty shoes, tied their laces. together, and used a long pole to hang them from pretty much any projection off the side of the building that couldn't be reached. Also stuffed them with expired meat and dogs t. I wanted to shatter
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 10
    the beer bottles as well, but I decided to just recycle them because I didn't want anyone to actually get hurt. You'd think that would be enough to prove my point, but I also went behind the fence that night and
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 11
    planted a bunch of running bamboo. There's a sort of alley between the apartments and my fence that's all grass, so the idea is for it to grow enough to block them from even walking through there to
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 12
    begin with. Bamboo is very hard to remove once it starts growing. This is what you get when you act like trash. I do not feel bad about my retaliation even a little bit.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 13
    II-leto 9 hr. ago The bamboo will take a few years before it will do what you want. And if you don't put in a 26 inch barrier with some extra above the ground it's going to take over your yard. Good luck, I hate people like you've described.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 14
    Glimmerofinsight 9 hr. ago I would put up a high fence, to prevent them from dumping in my yard.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 15
    HighAltitude88008. 9 hr. ago Or a high tight mesh screen so the garbage bounces right back on them when they toss it.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 16
    Other-Mess6887 8 hr. ago My father had people having parties on his back. pasture. He let this go until one group had a large fire and left lots of trash. Dad found an envelope with an address while picking up.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 17
    He took trash to that address, scattered it and lit a fire in their back yard. He told the home owner that he was just returning what his children left.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 18
    SuitableEggplant639 9 hr. ago I can only upvote once, but you deserve two for the shoes filled with dogs t and the bamboo.
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 19
    Mortal4789 8 hr. ago if you want something really rank, buy a frozen. chicken that comes in a vaccum sealed bag. has to be melted shut,nothing that it tied or fastened. leave it in the sun untill it swellss up and becomes
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 20
    runny. the small that comes out of that bag alone is like nothing you will ever have experianced, and a single drop of liquid chicken carcass will carry the smell for days. use with extreme care
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 21
    TwinBoomr50.9 hr. ago I have a broken rib and reading this really hurt. because paragraphs 4&5 are hilarious, especially your shoe hanging escapades! Well done!
    via u/WaxMan73
  • 22
    Ariadne_Kenmore . 9 hr. ago Oh Gods, Bamboo, you're evil. That's going to be a total nightmare in a few years. Hopefully there is something that will keep it from growing back on you.
    via u/WaxMan73

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hoa neighbors neighborhood homeowner neighborhood-drama bad neighbors neighborhood-stories terrible neighbors Bad Neighbor neighbor
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