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Old 01-06-2012, 11:48 AM
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Default Clumping Large 20foot Hedge Bamboo

Hi there,

Can anyone recommend a good clumping bamboo for screening / hedge approx 20ft high? I'd be happy if it went a couple foot higher but would not want much lower. Ideally it would be good to have good dense foliage to specifically keep out noise, aside from that I am not too concerned on appearance.

This is on the North facing side of a property so would be subject to Northerly winds and would also be in partial shade prob receiving at best 6 hrs sun a day.

I've been looking online but it seems like the clumping Fargesia varieties don't have the height while the running Phyllostachys variety have the height but will run.

I have about 20m worth to cover with this and it is in an awkward enough location so really do not want to have to put in a root barrier.

Cheers in advance,
M
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Old 01-06-2012, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by mully1999 View Post
Can anyone recommend a good clumping bamboo for screening / hedge approx 20ft high? I've been looking online but it seems like the clumping Fargesia varieties don't have the height while the running Phyllostachys variety have the height but will run. I have about 20m worth to cover with this and it is in an awkward enough location so really do not want to have to put in a root barrier.
What's your climate/location/soil moisture situation? This affects how much the running bamboos will run. So, for example, Ph. aurea doesn't really run much at all in many UK gardens, especially in the parts of the country, but it is seriously invasive in many other countries with more summer warmth and more water availability, and I suspect in damper/milder parts of Britain too. But the kind of locations where runners don't run much, you'd be lucky to persuade anything to grow anything like 6m high.

Thamnocalamus is another cool climate clumper that grows higher than Fargesia, though 20ft would still be rather good going. They aren't as hardy as Fargesias though, only for places down to about -12C (10F), and are less hardy than that when young. They are happy in fairly shady locations, though if you can give it some wind protection while it is being established that would be a good idea too. Give it a lot of water and food, might get it up towards 6m.

There are some clumping Borindas that grow big, though they are even less hardy than the Thamnocalamus, and are expensive.

Semiarundinaria fastuosa is the classic tall hedging bamboo. It is a runner, but I've heard it claimed that even if you can't confine it completely, because it tends to run in long straight lines, provided you confine it locally here and there it you can point it in the right direction, and not have too much of a spreading issue. How true this is in reality, I cannot say.
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Old 01-06-2012, 12:52 PM
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There are some clumping Borindas that grow big, though they are even less hardy than the Thamnocalamus, and are expensive.
Having done a bit more research, it appears that there are some hardy and large Borindas. I see some suppliers are claiming that Borinda perlonga and Borinda papyrifera are as hardy or hardier than Thamnocalamus spp. Whitelea Nursery are claiming that Borinda grossa is both truly enormous and very hardy; and they have several others that are both large and hardy, including one they informally call "giant Borinda". But all are likely to be expensive and very limited quantities available of all this, and will probably need a lot of water to grow well.

I see also that Fargesia utilis is claimed by some (though not others) to grows up to 6m, though as it is scandent (bends over) you'd need some wires to keep it upright. Whitelea claims the little known F. yulongshanenis is taller.
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Old 01-06-2012, 03:17 PM
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Many thanks for the quick responses

We live in Belfast, Northern Ireland so generally do not have many winters with prolonged sub zero temperatures and generally are not subjected to very high temperatures for any prolonged period. Plenty of rainfall that is for sure though! Not sure on the soil PH etc but we do have Golden Bamboo growing successfully in another part of the garden.

I was looking at the Fargesia Utilis, this particular one could be good as it is very bushy looking from the photos and can be grown in shade. Additionally the area it is to be planted is next to raised decking, so on the house side it would be supported at a height of between 9-12feet by the decking and fence that, hopefully that would reduce drooping over the the decking to a great degree and encourage it to droop down the natural slope where it would be planted.

In addition to this 20m run I also have another 20m run at a lower level which requires a less tall bamboo (anything up to 10 feet), I am thinking of using Fargesia Dracocephala it seems to be very dense when mature so will hopefully provide a good sound barrier also.

In all of this though, if I could get faster growing running bamboo's I would go with them, if I could be reasonably sure they wouldn't take over the whole place really I guess I am hoping for a noise screen sooner rather than later with all this.

Thanks again,
M
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:45 PM
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I am thinking of using Fargesia Dracocephala it seems to be very dense when mature so will hopefully provide a good sound barrier also.
You have to be a bit careful with the name F. dracocephala, as the naming got in a mess. What is usually sold as F. dracocephala, and is what I guess you are talking about, is now correctly called F. apicirubens, though no one in the trade seems to use this name yet. F. dracocephala now correctly refers to a species which includes what is sold as F. rufa, which should now correctly be called F. dracocephala 'Rufa'. You don't want to mix these two up, as F. d. 'Rufa' is a mini-bamboo that only grows to about a metre tall...


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Old 19-06-2012, 01:17 PM
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Cheers for the warning

In the end I opted for a Phyllostachys Atrovaginata intermixed with Phyllostachys Bissetii, they seem to do well height wise and the Bissetti is especially hardy. We'll see what happens!

For the lower run I am going for a mix of Metake Arrow Bamboo for high density medium height and my split out Golden Bamboo as its free and seems to reach a good 12ft..


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Originally Posted by echinosum View Post
You have to be a bit careful with the name F. dracocephala, as the naming got in a mess. What is usually sold as F. dracocephala, and is what I guess you are talking about, is now correctly called F. apicirubens, though no one in the trade seems to use this name yet. F. dracocephala now correctly refers to a species which includes what is sold as F. rufa, which should now correctly be called F. dracocephala 'Rufa'. You don't want to mix these two up, as F. d. 'Rufa' is a mini-bamboo that only grows to about a metre tall...
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Old 20-06-2012, 12:57 PM
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In the end I opted for a Phyllostachys Atrovaginata...
You found some? Who's selling it?
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Old 08-07-2012, 01:05 PM
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I got 10 small one's from PlanFor.com Home in france, took about 5 days from shipping but since planting in pots they are all doing well.

Not the biggest but the idea is to give them a year in large pots to grow \ acclimatise then split into 20 for planting out next year.

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You found some? Who's selling it?
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Old 08-07-2012, 01:07 PM
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sry that should be have been planfor.co.uk not .com.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mully1999 View Post
I got 10 small one's from PlanFor.com Home in france, took about 5 days from shipping but since planting in pots they are all doing well.

Not the biggest but the idea is to give them a year in large pots to grow \ acclimatise then split into 20 for planting out next year.
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