david fraleigh wrote:
... I have been bitten by the "bamboo bug" and want to have several
groves of large bamboo around the place.. The clumping varieties seem
unlikely as the winters sometimes get down into the mid-teens but the
price of the more desirable runners and even their ability to survive
our hot summers makes them questionable also..
With that in mind does anybody have anything good to say about
Phyllostachys aurea??? I have heard so many horror stories that I
wonder if I am making a mistake to even consider it at all.. What
exactly is it about it that turns it into such a pest.. What defines
an "aggressive" bamboo. Might it be those very qualities that would
make it attractive to a beginner... such as "establishes
easily,inexpensive, thrives, etc." What makes me consider it is that
I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to obtain it... and that it
obviously does well in this area (North Florida.) There are several
areas where it is growing wild and where I could easily dig up all I
wanted to transplant to here... In my ignorance I think that I could
just plant it somewhere on these thirty acres and keep it under
control by mowing around it..

David,

Figure that if you transplant some Phyllostachys aurea from a wild grove
near you, then eventually you will end up with a grove that looks
similar to the one you got your piece from. If you like the size,
looks, and spread of the wild grove, then go for it. P. aurea can be a
fairly rampant runner in warm soil though it tends to be less rampant if
the soil is cooler, so that is another thing to consider before
transplanting. Your location may have warmer or cooler soil than the
wild grove.

Regards,

Bob