Doris Bacon's story has its similarities to the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The fairy tale hero Jack planted seeds, only to discover a huge beanstalk the next day.

In 1985, Mrs. Bacon, then living in Elizabeth Township, planted a couple of bamboo shoots that she brought back from a visit to Hawaii.

"Now [the garden] won't stop growing," she said.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Nancy Slater, left, and her daughter Melissa Addington stand in their back yard in the Boston section of Elizabeth Township, where Ms. Slater's mother, Doris Bacon, planted bamboo shoots years ago. The bamboo has grown into a miniature forest. Click photo for larger image.

Mrs. Bacon now lives in Fort Myers, Fla., but the last time she saw it, the garden looked like a "huge rainforest.''

Her daughter, Nancy Slater, still lives in the family home on Roslyn Street in the Boston neighborhood of Elizabeth Township, and reports that people driving by sometimes stop, park and knock on the door to inquire about the garden.

The thick bamboo garden extends for 20 feet outside her yard and is 30 feet high.

"I should have called the schools to arrange field trips," Mrs. Bacon said.

Now, however, she plans to cut it all down because a neighbor complained that it is intruding onto his property.

A neighbor who complained to Mrs. Bacon and Mrs. Slater declined to talk to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The women said township officials had never issued any kind of citation, nor had they ever visited the garden.

Township officials did not return calls for comment.

Still, Mrs. Bacon said, she will cut it down because of complaints.

Some varieties of bamboo are aggressive and intrusive and some aren't, said John Shea, a horticultural assistant at Penn State University Cooperative Extension of Allegheny County.

Bamboo is not unusual in Pennsylvania and can been seen in various places. Mr. Shea said bamboo is not something that should be planted in the ground without knowing more about it.

Mrs. Slater said her daughters, Lisa Addington, 22, and Melissa Addington, 25, who now lives elsewhere, grew up used to the bamboo barrier.

Bamboo has its advantages, Mrs. Slater said. It cuts down on noise pollution and provides a pleasant sanctuary, a "beautiful haven" for rare birds and wildlife.

"I hate to see it all go," Mrs. Slater said. She has been contacting crafts centers and the National Bamboo Society to see if they could find a useful purpose for the bamboo.

"Oh, no, I've got to cut it down," Mrs. Bacon said from her Fort Myers home. She said neighbors were quite insistent that she do so.

"It will be quite a job to get rid of it," she said.

Still, "when you add lights to the bamboo, it has a pretty effect on a summer night," Mrs. Slater said. In addition, bamboo stays green in the winter.

Mrs. Slater said that, during her daughters' graduation parties, some men who were military veterans said the garden made them feel like they were back in Vietnam.