What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.

On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that
a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

I would not mind them going dorment over the winter so long as they stand.
When do they need to be cut back and how long will it take for thehm to
regrow to full height?

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that
a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

It would seem that to produce a fence, it would be very expensive. How
could these bamboo be propagated. Can you divide the clump?

On 1/11/2009 8:28 AM, Dan Listermann wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that
a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.


I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

I would not mind them going dorment over the winter so long as they stand.
When do they need to be cut back and how long will it take for thehm to
regrow to full height?

It should be cut back before new growth starts in the spring. You would
have a few weeks without the screening effect.

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?

It can create quite an effective screen, even 30 ft tall (depending on
the variety, some are only 6 ft tall). It won't grow thick enough to be
a fence that can keep animals out of your yard and probably won't even
keep people out.


It would seem that to produce a fence, it would be very expensive. How
could these bamboo be propagated. Can you divide the clump?

The cost depends on the variety of bamboo. Yes, bamboo can be divided.
Because of a strong root system, however, dividing a clump of bamboo
might require more effort than you want to invest.

However, bamboo can be easily propagated from cuttings. Take a young
shoot, cut it into sections with at least two nodes (the ring where the
shoot is solid) in a section, and use the sections to start new plants.

One advantage of bamboo is that it doesn't go dormant in the winter. It
might stop growing, but it stays green. It does need occasional
grooming, which involves cutting down dead shoots.

WARNING: Do not mistake giant reed (Arundo donax) for bamboo. Arundo
is a very invasive pest. It's illegal to plant it in some jurisdictions.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

In article ,
Dan Listermann wrote:

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?

Dan, there is a bamboo nursery in my area that heavily advertises
its plants for privacy hedges. Perhaps browsing its website will
give you some ideas:

http://www.bamboogiant.com/

I happened to drive by the place on my way to a friend's house
on New Year's Eve, but other than that and their TV ads, I don't
know anything about them. Depending on what part of the country
you live in, there may be a similar nursery you could talk with
about your situation.


Patty

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/11/2009 8:28 AM, Dan Listermann wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A
normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure
that
a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.


I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

I would not mind them going dorment over the winter so long as they
stand.
When do they need to be cut back and how long will it take for thehm to
regrow to full height?

It should be cut back before new growth starts in the spring. You would
have a few weeks without the screening effect.

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?

It can create quite an effective screen, even 30 ft tall (depending on
the variety, some are only 6 ft tall). It won't grow thick enough to be
a fence that can keep animals out of your yard and probably won't even
keep people out.


It would seem that to produce a fence, it would be very expensive. How
could these bamboo be propagated. Can you divide the clump?

The cost depends on the variety of bamboo. Yes, bamboo can be divided.
Because of a strong root system, however, dividing a clump of bamboo
might require more effort than you want to invest.

However, bamboo can be easily propagated from cuttings. Take a young
shoot, cut it into sections with at least two nodes (the ring where the
shoot is solid) in a section, and use the sections to start new plants.

One advantage of bamboo is that it doesn't go dormant in the winter. It
might stop growing, but it stays green. It does need occasional
grooming, which involves cutting down dead shoots.

WARNING: Do not mistake giant reed (Arundo donax) for bamboo. Arundo
is a very invasive pest. It's illegal to plant it in some jurisdictions.

I would not expect it to keep animals out.

How much width would one need to allow for such a fence? Is there a way to
control the width like buried solid fencing and if so, how deep?

"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Dan Listermann wrote:

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?

Dan, there is a bamboo nursery in my area that heavily advertises
its plants for privacy hedges. Perhaps browsing its website will
give you some ideas:

http://www.bamboogiant.com/

I happened to drive by the place on my way to a friend's house
on New Year's Eve, but other than that and their TV ads, I don't
know anything about them. Depending on what part of the country
you live in, there may be a similar nursery you could talk with
about your situation.

Thanks, that was interesting!

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:14:31 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

Even if it's clumping bamboo, it can be a nuisance. Mine (which I
finally paid somebody a healthy sum to remove) constantly scattered
little paperish thingies all over adjacent plantings and beyond. It
also pushed into the lemon tree. Personally, I'd avoid another
encounter with bamboo, but YMMV.

Have you thought of a wire fence with vines twisted into it? With
time, and close planting, that can become opaque to viewers. Of
course it may limit height -- are there wire fences that go over 6'?

Persephone
height

On 1/11/2009 9:07 AM, Dan Listermann wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/11/2009 8:28 AM, Dan Listermann wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
et...
On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A
normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure
that
a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.


I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)
I would not mind them going dorment over the winter so long as they
stand.
When do they need to be cut back and how long will it take for thehm to
regrow to full height?
It should be cut back before new growth starts in the spring. You would
have a few weeks without the screening effect.

How "thick" is bamboo? Can it work as a privacy fence?
It can create quite an effective screen, even 30 ft tall (depending on
the variety, some are only 6 ft tall). It won't grow thick enough to be
a fence that can keep animals out of your yard and probably won't even
keep people out.

It would seem that to produce a fence, it would be very expensive. How
could these bamboo be propagated. Can you divide the clump?
The cost depends on the variety of bamboo. Yes, bamboo can be divided.
Because of a strong root system, however, dividing a clump of bamboo
might require more effort than you want to invest.

However, bamboo can be easily propagated from cuttings. Take a young
shoot, cut it into sections with at least two nodes (the ring where the
shoot is solid) in a section, and use the sections to start new plants.

One advantage of bamboo is that it doesn't go dormant in the winter. It
might stop growing, but it stays green. It does need occasional
grooming, which involves cutting down dead shoots.

WARNING: Do not mistake giant reed (Arundo donax) for bamboo. Arundo
is a very invasive pest. It's illegal to plant it in some jurisdictions.

I would not expect it to keep animals out.

How much width would one need to allow for such a fence? Is there a way to
control the width like buried solid fencing and if so, how deep?

The width of the bamboo bed depends on the variety and your climate.
Some varieties grow more open or dense than others. You might need to
allow a width of at least 5 feet or even more.

Clumping bamboo can generally be controlled merely by cutting down any
shoots that appear where they are not wanted. Once the top of the shoot
is removed, it stops growing and will soon die.

Underground barriers may work, but I've seen some that were not
effective against running bamboo. The best barrier would be a concrete
wall that extends 3 feet below the surface; it should also extend about
6 inches above ground so that you can monitor any runners trying to
escape.

I know of a planting of "Golden Godess" bamboo (Bambusa multiplex
'Golden Godess') that was planted in large plastic tubs set into the
ground. I think at least one tub cracked. I can also see runners
coming out of the soil, going over the edge of a tub, and then growing
back into the soil, thereby escaping. BE CAREFUL! Sunset lists this
one as clumping, but it's definitely a running bamboo. Shoots are
coming up several feet away from where it was planted. In that garden,
similar problems are seen with black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), which
Sunset correctly lists as running.

On the other hand, the same garden has giant timber bamboo (Bambusa
oldhamii). Shoots grow some 30 feet high and are 2-3 inches in
diameter. This makes a nice, dense grove that has not really spread;
it's truly clumping. In a bed some 10 feet wide, it can be a very
effective screen. (It would be too crowded in a narrower bed.) Do not
confuse B. oldhamii with the other giant timber bamboo (Phyllostachys
bambusoides), which is definitely a running bamboo.

If you are really interested in bamboo, you would be best served by
viewing the variety you want as an established planting either in a
neighbor's private garden or in a public garden.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Q: What's a President Bush cocktail?
A: Business on the rocks.

In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.

If it is bamboo, make sure it is the clumping, not the running kind.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Bamboo (LP Version) 2:33 Peter, Paul & Mary Folk MPEG audio file
1961

I have Black Bamboo about and love it.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence? We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded
annually. A normal privacy fence would probably be damaged during
the flood. I figure that a line of this very tall dense grass, while
damaged, could just grow back every year.

This is a good idea in principle. I have seen too many fences wrecked by
floods or converted into artistically draped crap by flood wrack.

Sadly I cannot make any practical suggestion about species. The reasons are
that I don't know where you are and even if your climate was the same as
mine I couldn't come up with anything that hasn't been mentioned already as
the tall grasses I know of tend to dry out and become fire hazards.

Why not use shrubs or small trees? There must be some that will survive
periodic inundation.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence? We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded
annually. A normal privacy fence would probably be damaged during
the flood. I figure that a line of this very tall dense grass, while
damaged, could just grow back every year.

This is a good idea in principle. I have seen too many fences wrecked by
floods or converted into artistically draped crap by flood wrack.

Sadly I cannot make any practical suggestion about species. The reasons
are that I don't know where you are and even if your climate was the same
as mine I couldn't come up with anything that hasn't been mentioned
already as the tall grasses I know of tend to dry out and become fire
hazards.

Why not use shrubs or small trees? There must be some that will survive
periodic inundation.

The property is near Cincinnati. Shrubs could be done, but I am trying to
keep the "footprint" down.

On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



By the way, you should also consider some narrow trees such as Italian
cypress or Lombardy poplar. These have columnar growth patterns rather
than branching out. Plant them with some space between them so they
don't batter each other during a wind.

The poplar can create problems with invasive roots and might sucker. It
also goes dormant in the winter.

The cypress is evergreen.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"Dan Listermann" wrote in message
...
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy
fence? We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A
normal privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure
that a line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow
back every year.


It occurred to me that the fence need not be opaque, it just has to break up
the view of the neighbors. Then I thought, why not a fence that produces a
fruit? Blackberries or raspberries might be nice. How far from the
property line would they need to be planted? Any thoughts?