Just be *very* careful with bamboo. I had a friend who purchased a
house that had bamboo at the back, presumably to block the view of the
neighbors. To get rid of it he ended up having to pull up all of the
rocks and dirt to get it all out, sifting the dirt by hand through a
mesh screen to get all of the roots out. It was a 2-3 year process
for him I believe. The big, thick, tall bamboo "screens" you
typically see are the running type for the most part. And "barrier"
to contain really means barrier. I believe a gardening program I
watched several years ago showed putting up bamboo as a screen (not
sure if it was clumping or running). They said to dig large holes and
place large clay or metal pots or something in them, essentially a
container plant in the ground, to keep it from spreading. Also keep
in mind your neighbors, if you put in bamboo and it gets out of
control, it is their problem too.

andyd


On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 06:01:16 -0500, "Kathleen"
wrote:

Thanks John!
With hope and heart,
Kathleen