"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 11:36:36 +0000, sarasara
wrote:


I need to screen off a farmyard from the house and as there seems to be
no known fast growing hedge that grows no more than 4/5 metres high I
am looking at the idea of bamboo.

Can anyone suggest a fast growing well spreading bamboo suitable for
peaty soils?

Thanks,
sara.

Seems like a good idea in principle, except that I would have thought
what you _don't_ want is one that spreads, as they can be invasive and
a real problem. Phyllostachys aurea (or indeed any species of
Phyllostachys) is recommended for hedging. OTOH if you mean
'spreading' as in 'bushy', then think about Fargesia murielae or F.
nitida, the latter being slightly more upright. How fast they grow, I
don't know. A problem I foresee is that bamboos aren't cheap to buy
(P. aurea at £13 and F. murielae at £11 each at my local nursery), so
a whole hedge could work out expensive.

There are a number of moderately tall, fairly fast growing shrubs that
are used for hedging (e.g. Olearia traversii, Eleagnus ebbingei,
Escallonia species) that get to the sort of height you want, but
they're not fully hardy so it depends where you are.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net


Bamboos are often cheaper than that depends on the nursery and the area and
if spreading is not a problem then they do indeed provide a good screen but
they tend to take about 5 yrs to get going

I have found that Mock Orange /Philadelphus is one of the fastest growing
shrubs which provides good shelter even in winter

Pyracantha is good but not as fast

It maybe better to think of erecting a net on tall poles and growing
nasturtians , honeysuckles , clematis armandii, clematis montana up the net
in the interim while the various shrubs get going