The only time I have ever seen bamboo in a back yard, it had taken over.
They had to hatchet paths through it to get through their yard.

Kind of like the Kudzu has done here in the south.

Kate

"Watcher" wrote in message
...
| On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:53:51 -0700, "Robert Sefton"
| wrote:
|
| We have a 6' stucco wall in our back yard, and beyond that wall is a
fairly
| busy street and a large retail complex (stores, banks, restaurants,
etc.).
| Want to screen that view up to about 25'. I had a stucco retaining wall
| built along the outside of the 50' stucco wall to encloses a 3'x50' area
to
| plant bamboo. We live in San Diego about 10 miles inland from the coast
| (zone 10 I think). Our back yard is only about 25' deep, so this bamboo
will
| be right on top of us and needs to have an erect habit so the back yard
| doesn't get too claustrophobic.
|
| My questions:
|
| 1. I want to mix bamboos, both for the look and so that if one type
doesn't
| do well or flowers or something that the entire screen doesn't thin out.
| Would runners and clumpers do ok together together in such a restricted
| area, or is it better to go exclusively with one or the other. The
clumper
| would be B. oldhamii and the runners would be Phyllostachys (vivax and
henon
| and possibly a smaller plant as well)?
|
| 2. We've been getting a lot of conflicting opinions from bamboo sellers
on
| whether B. oldhamii should be planted in a 3' wide area. Of the six or so
| we've talked to, 3 or 4 recommended against it (two very strongly) and
two
| said it would do fine (one very strongly). How much room (width) does
| oldhamii need? And if the space is smaller than optimal will the plants
just
| be shorter than normal or will they just not develop at all? I've seen
| picutures of oldhamii growing as a screen along some narrow strips (see
the
| Burbank, Irvine, and Long Beach photos at the link below), so I have my
| doubts about the nay-sayers:
|
|
http://www.endangeredspecies.com/Bam...ns/Ba/Bambusa/
BO.html
|
| 3. Because the 50' wall is solid, I'd like the lower culms to be exposed.
I
| like that look and don't need the screen below 6'. Given our situation
| (3'x50' enclosed area, zone 10, at least 25' tall, erect habit, etc.),
but
| ignoring #1 and #2 above (our style preferences), what would you
recommend
| as the best solution for a hardy and attractive 25+ feet tall screen? (In
| other words, if this was your house ...).
|
| Bamboo will do the job, but it may take a while to get established.
| It's pretty invasive like people think it is, but it doesn't grow as
| fast as some people seem to think it does. If you plant enough of it
| to establish it in the beginning it'll fill in nicely(and fairly
| quickly). Some varieties of bamboo don't branch much below a certain
| height, so you need to make sure the variety you pick is right for
| your needs.
| There's one type of bamboo which grows wild near here(Arkansas Ozarks)
| which branches about 15-20 feet high, then grows to around 50 feet in
| height.
| There are a LOT of varieties of bamboo to choose from.