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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
1) I believe this bamboo is a runner and not a clumper, and I haven't installed a root barrier. I am happy for the bamboo to roam within 3meter radius of where I have planted it but is it likely to expand much past this distance in years to come ?
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Yes, it could - each runner will in turn put out more runners, so if it expanded a metre this year, say, then those runners were to put out runners themselves, it could go on and on. But it won't if you keep an eye on it and stop it in its tracks. It's like having a hedge; you have to keep it maintained or it'll go mad.
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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
2a) If it does start running outside this area, I was intending to sever the rhizomes with a sharp spade. Do the Rhizomes stick within the top 6 inches, or could they be 18inches down, and outside the reach of a spade ?
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I've never found that with my Phylllostachys, and I've got several different varieties, including aureosulcata. BUT the soil does make a difference.
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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
2b) My soil turns to soft clay approx 8 inches down, and wondered if this would make it more likely that the rhizomes would grow within this layer as it is soft and retains more water than the soil layer above it? This would make it more difficult to sever the Rhizomes with a spade.
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I've got clay soil too, and I find the bamboos don't seem to like going down into it - they tend to run closer to the surface. I keep a close eye on them, and any shoot that's growing from the main clump I trace back, clearing the soil around the buried runner. I usually find that if I can get the blade of the spade underneath the runner, I can prise it up.
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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
3) Appox 6-8 meters in every direction is a huge Eucalyptus tree, and fully grown conifer, and a 2m baby Oak tree. Will these nearby trees help deprive the Bamboo of water, and therefore reduce its growth, or will this cause the Bamboo to expand in the search for food ?
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More likely to retard it, I would think
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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
4) I'm happy for the Bamboo to go mad in my own garden, but if it expands more than 5 meters in any direction, it would start entering neighbours gardens, which is what I am most worried about. Can anyone tell me if this is likely in the long-term ?
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Yes. If you let a bamboo go out of control, it can go anywhere. I think it very unlikely it would travel more than a metre without sending up a shoot, though, and then you can spot it.
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Originally Posted by Joe Shmoe
5) I also have another bamboo that I wish to plant, but want to restrict its rhizomes quite heavily due to space. If I brought a large plastic pot (the heavy duty type, not the disposable pots that new plants come in) and sunk this in the ground, would this confine the Rhizomes or would they be able to bust through ? I have heard that Rhizomes can get through Root Barrier Fabric in the long term, and wondered if this might be a suitable substitute ?
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Well, I've read of them bursting through concrete floors, so I doubt your plastic pot will stop it if it really wants t go. Steel's the only thing I've heard of that's pretty well bamboo-proof, but I'm open to contradiction!