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