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The case for making an informed choice
Bamboo is a very popular plant for sale in Garden Centres but it's unfortunate that all too often people are unable to make an informed choice at the point of purchase. It is a beautiful plant but it should not be purchased on an impulse which could cause a lot of heart and back ache!
(I wanted to add a picture of my bamboos but no joy despite being well within image criteria (55KB) I'm having problems posting it - so you may not see anything - but I'll continue with writing this post ...... There's no FAQ I can see. So send me a private message and I'll upload later) Bamboo is a grass and it grows like one. Spread is infinite. I don't go a bundle on restrictive skirts - ultimately. They assume that in all their evolutionary milenia bamboo never encountered a stone in the ground! Stones in the ground slow them down and that's about it. We're talking about a plant with a tensile strength of 50,000psi (mild steel is 60K). When bamboo roots encounter an obstacle they surface and travel until they find a route back underground. Bamboos need moisture, dehydration is likely to be their biggest enemy. MOST have root systems that travel down to about 2ft, one exception are the chuqueas (4ft). Some will send up new culms about ever 2" (Semiarundinaria yashedake 'Kimmei') along their runs, with others it can be yards! Not surprisingly the attractive broader-leaved sasas and pseudosasas are being marketed a lot as a result of their shorter stature, but what they lack in height they more than make up for in spread. This is rarely mentioned. So before you buy check around, make your purchase based upon an informed decision and then enjoy this beautiful plant - you won't have to wait long!
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www.winsfordwalledgarden.com Large garden-based website. Gardens open daily (April-October). New Gardening forums |
#2
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www.winsfordwalledgarden.com Large garden-based website. Gardens open daily (April-October). New Gardening forums |
#3
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I have plenty of ornamental grasses that stay put in a clump, including some which are bamboos (Fargesia, Thamnocalamus spp.)
Otherwise, I agree with your sentiment that bamboo sellers ought to be candid about the spreading prospects of what they are selling. But I don't believe there is any reality of it happening, and I probably don't want to live in the type of country which would legislate for it. The reality is that sellers can sell (most) things even in complete ignorance of what they are selling, and even if they do are under no obligation to make disclosure. Even some of the most respected bamboo sellers describe Phyllostachys as "clumping" unless it is a totally rampant one. As in everything else, it is caveat emptor. |
#4
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The case for making an informed choice
echinosum wrote:
Winsford;736648 Wrote: Bamboo is a grass and it grows like one. Spread is infinite.I have plenty of ornamental grasses that stay put in a clump, including some which are bamboos (Fargesia, Thamnocalamus spp.) Otherwise, I agree with your sentiment that bamboo sellers ought to be candid about the spreading prospects of what they are selling. But I don't believe there is any reality of it happening, and I probably don't want to live in the type of country which would legislate for it. The reality is that sellers can sell (most) things even in complete ignorance of what they are selling, and even if they do are under no obligation to make disclosure. Even some of the most respected bamboo sellers describe Phyllostachys as "clumping" unless it is a totally rampant one. As in everything else, it is caveat emptor. Do those "most respected bamboo sellers" have names? -- Travis in Shoreline Washington |
#5
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The case for making an informed choice
"DG" wrote in message ... Travis wrote: Do those "most respected bamboo sellers" have names? I've used three and all did a good job. This one I've mail ordered: http://www.bamboodirect.com This one I've mail ordered and bought the http://www.bamboosourcery.com Bought a few retail from: http://www.booshootgardens.com/index.cfm DG, I think Travis was referring to the statement from echnosum Even some of the most respected bamboo sellers describe Phyllostachys as "clumping" unless it is a totally rampant one. I did not see anything on those websites that said Phyllostachys was a clumper. The only person outside of Europe that I have seen described a Phyllostachys as a clumper was Cisco Morris on his television show. He planted a P. aurea and said it was a clumper then gave a warning that all clumpers will run after about 4 years. Bill |
#6
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The case for making an informed choice
hollenback wrote:
"DG" wrote in message ... Travis wrote: Do those "most respected bamboo sellers" have names? I've used three and all did a good job. This one I've mail ordered: http://www.bamboodirect.com This one I've mail ordered and bought the http://www.bamboosourcery.com Bought a few retail from: http://www.booshootgardens.com/index.cfm DG, I think Travis was referring to the statement from echnosum Even some of the most respected bamboo sellers describe Phyllostachys as "clumping" unless it is a totally rampant one. I did not see anything on those websites that said Phyllostachys was a clumper. The only person outside of Europe that I have seen described a Phyllostachys as a clumper was Cisco Morris on his television show. He planted a P. aurea and said it was a clumper then gave a warning that all clumpers will run after about 4 years. Bill ooh la la la -- Travis in Shoreline Washington |
#7
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I grow 20 varieties and I reckon bamboo takes four years just to settle in. If it likes its situation by year seven its moving like a train! But it IS beautiful! I've come across many garden visitors who have planted bamboo and then been forced to go to considerable effort to remove it. I believe many households are in for a shock in years to come. Just as householders here in the UK have, for the past 35years, been advised that there was really only one plant to grow along their garden perimeter (Leyland cypress). Yet only fairly recently is the Govt legislating against it. And Leylandii remain where they are planted . . . .
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www.winsfordwalledgarden.com Large garden-based website. Gardens open daily (April-October). New Gardening forums |
#8
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The case for making an informed choice
Winsford wrote:
Travis;738376 Wrote: The only person outside of Europe that I have seen described a Phyllostachys as a clumper was Cisco Morris on his television show. He planted a P. aurea and said it was a clumper then gave a warning that all clumpers will run after about 4 years. Bill Travis in Shoreline Washington The quote says it all. People need to go in to bamboo with both eyes wide open and be prepared. After all, we all know about 'dwarf' conifers that will revert in time. 'Clumping' is a question of time. Time, ground conditions and climate. I grow 20 varieties and I reckon bamboo takes four years just to settle in. If it likes its situation by year seven its moving like a train! But it IS beautiful! I've come across many garden visitors who have planted bamboo and then been forced to go to considerable effort to remove it. I believe many households are in for a shock in years to come. Just as householders here in the UK have, for the past 35years, been advised that there was really only one plant to grow along their garden perimeter (Leyland cypress). Yet only fairly recently is the Govt legislating against it. And Leylandii remain where they are planted . . . . Watch your quoting. I did not write what you are attributing to me. -- Travis in Shoreline Washington |
#9
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OP is in the UK, where it is common for phyllostachys to be falsely described as a clumper, even by respected television/radio gardeners. Several of the more popular phyllostachys species are not very rampant in the UK, but they are still runners and will run eventually. I would name Jungle Giants, Hardy Bamboos and The Palm Centre, as respected bamboo sellers who use the word "clumping" in relation to Phyllostachys, (even though the second of these is run by a man who wrote a book making quite clear the true situation). In terms of accurate advice (when selling) I would name Pan-Global Plants of Frampton upon Severn, and Whitelea Nurseries, alias UK-bamboos.co.uk
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#10
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The case for making an informed choice
echinosum wrote:
Travis;738007 Wrote: Do those "most respected bamboo sellers" have names? OP is in the UK, where it is common for phyllostachys to be falsely described as a clumper, even by respected television/radio gardeners. Several of the more popular phyllostachys species are not very rampant in the UK, but they are still runners and will run eventually. I would name Jungle Giants, Hardy Bamboos and The Palm Centre, as respected bamboo sellers who use the word "clumping" in relation to Phyllostachys, (even though the second of these is run by a man who wrote a book making quite clear the true situation). In terms of accurate advice (when selling) I would name Pan-Global Plants of Frampton upon Severn, and Whitelea Nurseries, alias UK-bamboos.co.uk I have sent all 3 you mentioned an email asking why they call runners clumping. -- Travis in Shoreline Washington |
#11
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I'm not defending them. I think it's shabby. |
#12
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The case for making an informed choice
echinosum wrote:
Travis;738945 Wrote: I have sent all 3 you mentioned an email asking why they call runners clumping. If you get a reply, they will say, glibly, something like "because they are effectively clumping in UK conditions" or "because it assists our customers to understand they are not difficult invasive plants like sasa palmata". And carry on. They may even call in their defence the TV personality gardeners who call them clumping. The real, unspoken, answers are "because we want to sell them, and we think that calling them 'running' would frighten off the customers", and "clumping is not a scientific term like pachymorphic, so I won't get done by trading standards for misusing it". I'm not defending them. I think it's shabby. I have not heard from a single one of them. -- Travis in Shoreline Washington |
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