Hi there

I'm new to the forum and also quite new to gardening. We got out first house last year and I'm in the process of redoing the whole garden and just learning as I go along.

Anyway, I have a question about bamboo... I planted some Phyllostachys Bissetii bamboo in the spring which appear to have grown very well. They were bought at around 6ft tall, the existing culms didn't grow but loads of new ones have grown at varying heights but up to around 9.5ft. Anyway, I'm concerned about the strength of the bamboo. Here is a picture of the bamboo when wet:

http://www.trailblasters.co.uk/forum...ing_bamboo.jpg

You can see that a lot of the canes droop a lot and they all tend to lean towards the lawn.

However, some bamboo planted about 3 weeks (which arrived with similar growth) do not droop at all. I was suprised that the new bamboo (which had its new growth in pots) appears to be stronger. The new bamboo also appears to be relatively unaffected by the wind, but my existing bamboo blows about terribly.

Does it looks like the bamboo isn't as strong as it could be? Or should I be patient and wait a couple of years and hopefully bigger canes will appear? Or perhaps I should tie them up to encourage new culms to grow straight and stay straight?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks