A friend of mine bought some good quality mature plants to dress a TV
location and he has over-ordered so is offering me a very tall black
bamboo (approx 6m) in a large tub. He wants £100 for it and since I'm
looking for some attractive screening plants anyway, I'm tempted. The
plant looks healthy enough and is being regularly watered. There are
approx 20 stems, a few of which are already black while others are
presumably in the process of turning black. Lots of healthy looking
leaves.

First question: is this a steal at £100?

Second question: Is the black bamboo one of the varieties that roots
like a mad thing all over the place if not shackled?

Third question: Can I leave this out all year round?

Last question: My soil is clay and it gets pretty soft. Will it die if
it doesn't have good drainage?

Thanks for your help.

Simon

Stan The Man wrote:
Second question: Is the black bamboo one of the varieties that roots
like a mad thing all over the place if not shackled?


If you read most books it is clump forming and well behaved.

mine was so for 5 years than last summer along with golden bamboo produced
around 30m (sic) of 1" dia runners in a 5*4 courtyard!

I read more books and in hot american zones it is noted as an invasive
runner - it was in its element last summer!

pk

On 26/5/04 0:35, in article , "Stan The Man"
wrote:

A friend of mine bought some good quality mature plants to dress a TV
location and he has over-ordered so is offering me a very tall black
bamboo (approx 6m) in a large tub. He wants £100 for it and since I'm
looking for some attractive screening plants anyway, I'm tempted. The
plant looks healthy enough and is being regularly watered. There are
approx 20 stems, a few of which are already black while others are
presumably in the process of turning black. Lots of healthy looking
leaves.

First question: is this a steal at £100?

snip

It could be cheaper, I think. Ours are 6', possibly not as bushy but not
far off and sell for about £39.00. It's really a question of what else is
available in your area and what price *that* is.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

"Stan The Man" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought some good quality mature plants to dress a TV
location and he has over-ordered so is offering me a very tall black
bamboo (approx 6m) in a large tub. He wants £100 for it and since I'm
looking for some attractive screening plants anyway, I'm tempted. The
plant looks healthy enough and is being regularly watered. There are
approx 20 stems, a few of which are already black while others are
presumably in the process of turning black. Lots of healthy looking
leaves.

First question: is this a steal at £100?

Second question: Is the black bamboo one of the varieties that roots
like a mad thing all over the place if not shackled?

Third question: Can I leave this out all year round?

Last question: My soil is clay and it gets pretty soft. Will it die if
it doesn't have good drainage?

Thanks for your help.

From your description, it sounds like Phyllostachys nigra. It's a
vigorous bamboo and it does run extensively but 6m tall is pretty large
for this country. I'd expect 3m, maybe 4m, so it's possible that the
plant has been grown in a polytunnel or has been imported from somewhere a
bit warmer and I wouldn't think that subsequent canes would reach 6m.

Having said that, P. nigra is perfectly hardy and I grew it in NE England
for over 15 years, until I moved south. Most of the bamboos are pricey
but this often reflects the effort needed to produce them. If it is 6m,
then you're getting it for a good price. Smaller plants (say in 5 litre
pots) can be up to £40 and I've seen 10 litre plants at £80.

It's obviously up to you but my advice is always to get the cheapest
(smallest) plant. They grow so fast that, IME, you're only a year or two
behind the larger plants, anyway.

Good luck.

- Tom.

"Stan The Man" wrote in message
A friend of mine bought some good quality mature plants to dress a TV
location and he has over-ordered so is offering me a very tall black
bamboo (approx 6m) in a large tub. He wants £100 for it and since I'm
looking for some attractive screening plants anyway, I'm tempted. The
plant looks healthy enough and is being regularly watered. There are
approx 20 stems, a few of which are already black while others are
presumably in the process of turning black. Lots of healthy looking
leaves.

First question: is this a steal at £100?

Too right, I've seen large pots, as you describe, of full sized 18ft (6m)
black bamboo (scaffold pole diameter at base) going for about £750. Even
ones at £320 weren't that tall.


Second question: Is the black bamboo one of the varieties that roots
like a mad thing all over the place if not shackled?

Did run last summer in a neighbours garden but it has the reputation to be
clump forming and not too invasive in the UK. Might be the weather last
year.


Third question: Can I leave this out all year round?

Yes.

Last question: My soil is clay and it gets pretty soft. Will it die if
it doesn't have good drainage?

No if my neighbours was anything to go by.

--
Regards
Bob

Some photos of my plants at.....

In message , "dave @ stejonda"
writes
So they're a sixth of the size!!!

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

--
dave @ stejonda walks away shaking his head in despair

On 26/5/04 6:18 pm, in article , "dave @
stejonda" wrote:

In message , "dave @ stejonda"
writes
So they're a sixth of the size!!!

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

Why was I thinking in feet?! I just can't do 'new money' seems to be the
answer. So - that makes the bamboo quite a good buy, doesn't it?
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

Full fathom five my bamboo grows...

Which reminds me that my favorite unit of speed is furlongs per fortnight.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

In message , Gary Woods
writes
"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

Full fathom five my bamboo grows...

I keep meaning to read more Sylvia Plath so that was an interesting
diversion - thank-you - though I doubt bamboo would grow in sea-water.


Which reminds me that my favorite unit of speed is furlongs per fortnight.

Nice and gentle that.

--
dave @ stejonda

dave @ stejonda wrote:
In message , Gary Woods
writes

"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???


Full fathom five my bamboo grows...


I keep meaning to read more Sylvia Plath so that was an interesting
diversion - thank-you - though I doubt bamboo would grow in sea-water.

Sylvia Plath? Surely "Full fathom five" is from William Shakespeare's
The Tempest (Ariel's Song) http://www.potw.org/archive/potw190.html

--
Howard Neil

On 26/5/04 8:19 pm, in article ,
"Gary Woods" wrote:

"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

Full fathom five my bamboo grows...

Which reminds me that my favorite unit of speed is furlongs per fortnight.

I've met a few horses like that....... ;-(

--

In article , Bob Hobden
wrote:

"Stan The Man" wrote in message
A friend of mine bought some good quality mature plants to dress a TV
location and he has over-ordered so is offering me a very tall black
bamboo (approx 6m) in a large tub. He wants £100 for it and since I'm
looking for some attractive screening plants anyway, I'm tempted. The
plant looks healthy enough and is being regularly watered. There are
approx 20 stems, a few of which are already black while others are
presumably in the process of turning black. Lots of healthy looking
leaves.

First question: is this a steal at £100?

Too right, I've seen large pots, as you describe, of full sized 18ft (6m)
black bamboo (scaffold pole diameter at base) going for about £750. Even
ones at £320 weren't that tall.

Hm, this plant is certainly 6m tall and must presumably therefore be
fully grown - but the stems are nothing like scaffold diameter. They
are quite willowy and even at the base wouldn't be as much as one-third
the diameter of a scaffold pole. Maybe it needs pruning to fatten it
up?

Simon

In message , Howard Neil
writes
dave @ stejonda wrote:
In message , Gary Woods
writes
"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???

Full fathom five my bamboo grows...

I keep meaning to read more Sylvia Plath so that was an interesting
diversion - thank-you - though I doubt bamboo would grow in sea-water.


Sylvia Plath? Surely "Full fathom five" is from William Shakespeare's
The Tempest (Ariel's Song) http://www.potw.org/archive/potw190.html

Excellent!

So that's Plath making a reference to the bard.

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/1397

--
dave @ stejonda

In message , Stan The Man
writes
Hm, this plant is certainly 6m tall and must presumably therefore be
fully grown - but the stems are nothing like scaffold diameter. They
are quite willowy and even at the base wouldn't be as much as one-third
the diameter of a scaffold pole. Maybe it needs pruning to fatten it up?

Or maybe its been forced to get it to grow tall artificially quickly.
In which case it's longevity I'd've thought would be suspect. ?

--
dave @ stejonda

dave @ stejonda wrote:
In message , Howard Neil
writes

dave @ stejonda wrote:

In message , Gary Woods
writes

"dave @ stejonda" wrote:

why on earth was I thinking in fathoms???


Full fathom five my bamboo grows...


I keep meaning to read more Sylvia Plath so that was an interesting
diversion - thank-you - though I doubt bamboo would grow in
sea-water.


Sylvia Plath? Surely "Full fathom five" is from William Shakespeare's
The Tempest (Ariel's Song) http://www.potw.org/archive/potw190.html

Excellent!

So that's Plath making a reference to the bard.

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/1397


Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

I wonder what made Plath use that title? There does not seem to be any
similarity between that poem and Ariel's Song (other than in the title).
It may well have been a form of salutation to the bard, a subliminal
influence, or even a totally unconnected reason.

--
Howard Neil