SHERWOOD, Ark. — There are plenty of plants that grow in the Natural State, but some of them are more welcome than others. Bamboo has been considered an invasive plant and it could soon be banned in the City of Sherwood.
Arkansas Gardens in Sherwood has been open since 1952, and over the years they explained how they’ve gotten smaller.
“Now we just sell plants,” said Owner Phillip Jones. “We don't do any greenhouse growing anymore.”
Walking around the place you can see there's a large selection of plants to pick from, including bamboo, but Jones said they pre-order those plants.
“Because it is so invasive, I do not keep it on my lot,” he added.
Jones also said that because of that he makes sure that his customers pick up their plant within ten days.
“It would literally take over this nursery, it would come out of the buckets into the next bucket out of the bucket into the next bucket,” explained Jones. “It just spreads really, really bad.”
Due to how fast it can spread, the Sherwood City Council has been discussing the idea of no longer allowing residents to plant bamboo within city limits.
"It's destroying fences. This is a big deal,” said one council member in the June 28 meeting.
During the last council meeting, Mayor Mary Jo Heye Townsell said there could be some complications moving forward— specifically when it comes to enforcement.
"I don’t know how we prove who planted the bamboo like where it started from,” said Heye Townsel. “If it’s on both sides of the fence, how do we know which one it started on."
Jones shared that there's a way to prevent the bamboo from spreading into other people’s yards— which is something he's done himself.
“We have a strip, and on both sides of that strip, we dug two feet down a trench, and that two foot is full of concrete. So now it landlocked that bamboo, it can't go through that concrete,” said Jones.
Bamboo located on his business’s property has been there for 25 years and hasn't spread once to the homes behind his business.
“It just keeps our dust and the noise of our tractors down for everybody in this neighborhood,” said Jones.
He said a lot of people purchase the plant for privacy, but he can see why the debate is still on the table.
“It all depends on the situation,” said Jones.
The Sherwood City Council was not able to vote to enact the ordinance, but they plan to bring it up again on Monday, July 24.