Hello all,

I've trawled through the archives and seen the usual scare stories
about and defenses of bamboo... and I'm still interested in planting
some. We have just moved into a ground-floor flat in Edinburgh which
has one of those little strips of garden between the house and street,
about 8 feet by 30. It was dug over just before we moved in in
December 06 and currently is a mass of weeds. I am interested in
planting some bamboo along the street side as a privacy screen and
because I think it's a lovely plant. I had a couple of questions (and
note I have never owned a garden before and know nothing about them!):

- this is pretty much a north-facing side of the house and so I
suppose I'd need to look at shade-resistant varieties. Also, although
Edinburgh doesn't get the drenching that the west coast of Scotland
gets, it certainly gets cold and it's frequently windy. I'm not
certain whether to worry about clumping vs. running since in
Scotland's low temperatures running may not be too much of a problem.
I'd think about putting in a barrier for a runner anyway. Can anyone
recommend any varieties? I only ever seem to see 'Golden Bamboo' in
the garden centres.

- Speaking of barriers, if I understand it correctly, this is a strip
of plastic sheeting dug vertically into the ground around the proposed
bamboo area to stop the runners. Have I got the right idea? Would I
need this on the street side of the bamboo? I'm guessing not because
it would just hit the foundations of the footpath.

- I'd also like to plant grass over the remaining soil (once I have
dug it over etc - a project in itself!) After that, could I just
transfer potted bamboos into the soil and then sow grass around them
or are the bamboos likely to be better off in their own beds?

- I'm totally open to suggestions for other nice climbers or tall-
growing plants that I could use alongside or instead of bamboo in this
sort of cool, shady position, either flowering or not.

Thanks a lot,
cam

"edhead" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I've trawled through the archives and seen the usual scare stories
about and defenses of bamboo... and I'm still interested in planting
some. We have just moved into a ground-floor flat in Edinburgh which
has one of those little strips of garden between the house and street,
about 8 feet by 30. It was dug over just before we moved in in
December 06 and currently is a mass of weeds. I am interested in
planting some bamboo along the street side as a privacy screen and
because I think it's a lovely plant. I had a couple of questions (and
note I have never owned a garden before and know nothing about them!):

- this is pretty much a north-facing side of the house and so I
suppose I'd need to look at shade-resistant varieties. Also, although
Edinburgh doesn't get the drenching that the west coast of Scotland
gets, it certainly gets cold and it's frequently windy. I'm not
certain whether to worry about clumping vs. running since in
Scotland's low temperatures running may not be too much of a problem.
I'd think about putting in a barrier for a runner anyway. Can anyone
recommend any varieties? I only ever seem to see 'Golden Bamboo' in
the garden centres.

- Speaking of barriers, if I understand it correctly, this is a strip
of plastic sheeting dug vertically into the ground around the proposed
bamboo area to stop the runners. Have I got the right idea? Would I
need this on the street side of the bamboo? I'm guessing not because
it would just hit the foundations of the footpath.

- I'd also like to plant grass over the remaining soil (once I have
dug it over etc - a project in itself!) After that, could I just
transfer potted bamboos into the soil and then sow grass around them
or are the bamboos likely to be better off in their own beds?

- I'm totally open to suggestions for other nice climbers or tall-
growing plants that I could use alongside or instead of bamboo in this
sort of cool, shady position, either flowering or not.

Thanks a lot,
cam


Bamboo will certainly do the job you want it too, the Phyllostachs sorts
have some nice coloured stem forms (Culms) black gold, green and some with
stripes on them.
As to barriers, I have seen them go through half each purpose laid rubber
barrier so plastic is not going to do the job! having said that, its not
really that much of a problem and each year when the new stems start coming
up just look for those going in a direction you do not want, and use a spade
and lump hammer to slice through the underground roots or an old saw.
I have just a few Bamboos in the garden and find on my shallow soil the do
the job of a small evergreen tree (which I then grow clematis into)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

In article .com,
edhead wrote:

Hello all,

I've trawled through the archives and seen the usual scare stories
about and defenses of bamboo... and I'm still interested in planting
some. We have just moved into a ground-floor flat in Edinburgh which
has one of those little strips of garden between the house and street,
about 8 feet by 30. It was dug over just before we moved in in
December 06 and currently is a mass of weeds. I am interested in
planting some bamboo along the street side as a privacy screen and
because I think it's a lovely plant. I had a couple of questions (and
note I have never owned a garden before and know nothing about them!):

- this is pretty much a north-facing side of the house and so I
suppose I'd need to look at shade-resistant varieties. Also, although
Edinburgh doesn't get the drenching that the west coast of Scotland
gets, it certainly gets cold and it's frequently windy. I'm not
certain whether to worry about clumping vs. running since in
Scotland's low temperatures running may not be too much of a problem.
I'd think about putting in a barrier for a runner anyway. Can anyone
recommend any varieties? I only ever seem to see 'Golden Bamboo' in
the garden centres.

- Speaking of barriers, if I understand it correctly, this is a strip
of plastic sheeting dug vertically into the ground around the proposed
bamboo area to stop the runners. Have I got the right idea? Would I
need this on the street side of the bamboo? I'm guessing not because
it would just hit the foundations of the footpath.

- I'd also like to plant grass over the remaining soil (once I have
dug it over etc - a project in itself!) After that, could I just
transfer potted bamboos into the soil and then sow grass around them
or are the bamboos likely to be better off in their own beds?

- I'm totally open to suggestions for other nice climbers or tall-
growing plants that I could use alongside or instead of bamboo in this
sort of cool, shady position, either flowering or not.

Thanks a lot,
cam

Scottish Bamboo Nursery
Middlemuir Farm, Craigievar, Alford, Aberdeenshire, AB33 8JS; tel:
(019755) 81316; fax: (019755) 81411. Some 87 species and varieties
offered, all hardy in Scotland.

A considerable distance north of Edinburgh.
While it seems to have had a website it isn't working today.

"edhead" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I've trawled through the archives and seen the usual scare stories
about and defenses of bamboo... and I'm still interested in planting
some.
snip
Speaking of barriers, if I understand it correctly, this is a strip
of plastic sheeting dug vertically into the ground around the proposed
bamboo area to stop the runners.

I'd only ever plant it in a pot above ground where it can be kept an eye on.
We had some in the front garden of our last house. Never again. It sent
runners 12 meters along a bed and under a 1 meter wide path. The path was
edged both sides with a wall of railway sleepers and the runners must have
gone down quite a way to get under them. I can't imagine a bit of plastic
would stop it for long. We had the lot dug out profesionally and I watched
them do it. It came right back - only this time spread over the wider area
that had been dug over. It came up through other ground cover plants which
made it next to impossible to kill off with weed killer.

Although most of the hardy bamboos are runners, there are also quite a few hardy examples of true clumping species that won't wander off. And you are in luck because quite a lot of them are fond of (reasonably) shady positions. Check out bamboos from the Fargesia and Thamnocalamus and Borinda families. Fargesia is probably your best bet, they are very hardy. Though if you give it a bit of protection from cold winds when young, some of the Thamnocalamuses may be hardy enough, and some are really nice, look out for T crassinodus "Kew Beauty". But there also a quite a lot of really nice Fargesias, look out especially for F juizhaigou and F scabrida. F murieliae is a useful species, since it comes in varieties of different sizes. The Borindas are quite big and a bit marginal, though tree ferns can be grown in suitable locations in Edinburgh so you may have a chance.

In British conditions, especially areas like yours, quite a few of the Phyllostachys family don't wander very much at all. Though this is not uniformly true, some are quite aggressive. You need to research this carefully, since many sellers will deny that this could be possible. It doesn't help that gardening programmes on the BBC regularly refer to the whole Phyllostachys family as "clumpers", which just isn't true. As it happens, P aurea (golden bamboo) is one of the best behaved, though you will have to choose an uncommon variety like Holochrysa or Koi to actually get golden culms. P aureosulcata has lots of lovely varieties - spectabilis, aureocaulis, Harbin inversa, etc, and they grow very well in E Scotland, but they are more wandering. True P nigra from a good provenance is generally very well-behaved, though varieties such as henon and boryana are not (and they aren't black either). But the P's mostly need sunshine to thrive and bring out their culm colours, so perhaps not so suitable for your precise conditions.

You do have to go to specialist suppliers to get nice bamboos, and they are not necessarily more expensive that way, indeed they can be cheaper.