Ms G had called for help to solve a bamboo outbreak. When Sevan arrived and looked at her compact back garden, there were no tall shoots dominating the garden as he'd expected, so he asked where the problem was. Ms G pointed to a low, dense group of shoots in the corner. They were small now, so she wanted to be rid of them before they became the big problem that Sevan had prepared for.

Ms G had put her tools somewhere safe, ready for the mission. So safe that she couldn't remember where they were. As well as the bamboo, Sevan spotted some brambles at the back of the garden which would need to be cut and plenty of weeds in the plant pots and gravel that could be pulled, so he got started with pulling weeds.

Not long after, Ms G's neighbour arrived with a spade, fork and some cutting equipment, so it was time to tackle the bamboo. This was the first time Sevan was digging it out rather than chopping it, so it took some time to find the right technique. There was a huge network of intertwined roots underground, so through trial and error, a mixture of loosening with the fork, pulling and chopping with loppers or the spade started to have an effect. Some areas were harder, where the roots disappeared under paving or where Ms G's rose bushes were nearby. Ms G helped by holding back the spiky stems, allowing Sevan to to make a bit more progress.

Towards the end of the task, Sevan left the really difficult areas of bamboo, instead, going for the brambles. They were chopped up into short lengths and packed into Ms G's neighbour's garden waste bags. What a helpful gent he was. 3 bags later, the garden looked a bit tidier and a lot less invasive.