Stefan Trcek wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 19:55:27 -0400, Bob Hardy wrote:

Ideally, I like large leaves and
leaves as far down the culm as possible (but a dense screen is the most
important characteristic).

Hello Bob

A dense screen and max. height is somewhat conflicting.
a) Most high Phyllos. tend to have no leaves at the bottom if they are
grown up (some years later). Maybe Ph.nigra henonis ist one of the
best in this sense.
b) If you want to have many leaves at the bottom then cut old culms
early, say after 4 years instead of 5. Old culms bear most of the
leaves and shade the bottom.

P bissetti

Is told to be very dense even at the bottom. Ask me some years later
when mine is grown up :-)

I had about settled on rubromarginata when a nursery person told me that
its
adequacy as a screen varies a lot by season and site. In Winter, it
tends
to be a much lighter screen, while warm Summers (especially with plenty
of
water) really make it dense.

This is more or less typical for all Phyllostachys. I've seen 8
species in summer and early winter.

I like the larger leaves of the P Japonica, but I am concerned that 12'
might be the max in this area.

An old grove nearby has about 5m in wine climate (zone 7).

Will having only three feet of depth limit the
height on these?

I don't think so if the barrier is sufficiently long, especially for
the smaller ones like bissetii. Maybe watering is not as good.

Do you have any other suggestions for my situation?

Take a look at Ph.aureosulcata and Ph.nigra henonis/boryana. The first
is a strong runner and hard, a bit higher than bissetii, the second a
high bamboo but maybe not a strong runner in your climate. But check
if they do it in your climate! Maybe Ph. nuda is a choice, too.

Another choice may be Fargesia in front of a large Phyllo. Grown up
fargesia have no leaves at the bottom but so many culms that it is
quite dense. Sorry for my english, I am not a native speaker.

Stefan


Thanks Stefan. Your english is great. I would not have known you were not a
native speaker. Thanks for the suggestions. You have me thinking I might
want something other than Phyllostachys.

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Bob