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Texas Gardening
defurr_gw

Golden Bamboo in Shade

defurr
9 years ago

Our landscaper wants us to plant Golden Bamboo along a fence line with a neighbor we do not get along with. (Disputes about loud music late at night, etc.) The quote she gave us says that Golden clumps and is yet somehow a good screening bamboo. This seems questionable.

Everything I've read says that Golden can get away from you. The fence line along which we would be planting is fairly well shaded: our St. Augustine is visibly thin in that zone. So will the shade keep it under control? I'm afraid that to dig a 3 foot trench would be disruptive to all of the root systems along that fence, where there a few trees.

I'm concerned that it will either be so shady that it won't screen at all, or it will grow under the fence and give our neighbors more reason to be unpleasant towards us.

Featured Answer
  • kentuck_
    6 years ago

    You are correct. Buy from a reputable bamboo nursery or get a division from an existing bamboo plant that you KNOW is a clumper, and you can see before you plant it, how well it does in your area. I installed 6 barriers to contain 6 different types of running bamboo. 60mm X 30 inches and it all failed in less than 2 years. NO container will completely control running bamboo. The bamboo split the side of the barrier and ran rampant. Get a clumper and have peace of mind. The culms are more round and generally straighter and you will have an endless supply of garden stakes to use or sell.

    Comments (9)

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      9 years ago

      Our landscaper wants us to plant Golden Bamboo along a fence line with a neighbor we do not get along with........The quote she gave us says that Golden clumps and is yet somehow a good screening bamboo

      Your landscaper doesn't know beans about her bamboo!! Golden bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea, is a running bamboo and a very agressive one at that. While it does make an excellent privacy screen, it MUST be contained. I have no experience of growing it in TX, but here it grows almost equally well in either sun or shade. It grows in both coniferous and deciduous forests in its native China so shade adaptation would appear to be natural. The only thing that seems to slow its spread or thin out its growth is dryness -- very dry soils tend to keep it on the feeble side.

      btw, according to the USForest Service, it has escaped cultivation and has formed extensive stands in Tarrant and Grayson counties. "Golden bamboo has invaded secondary forests, forest clearings, and forest edges in Texas ".

      There are at least a couple of bamboo nurseries in TX that specialize or at least offer clumping bamboos, which are an entirely different and very non-offensive kettle of fish. Just Google 'clumping bamboo Texas' for a few websites.

    • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
      9 years ago

      You will definitely not be getting along with this neighbor OR who ever moves into this house in the future. Bamboo will make any neighborly relationship worse in time. Sinking a 24" barrier of concrete by your fence might contain it. They have some rubber liners that people say will contain it, but I have heard that it breaks. I contained it with concrete on both sides and even then I had to look for escapes jumping the barrier every spring. I would jump into the neighbors yard and yank out any runners that had found a crack or wiggled through the drainage hole. I had success for 25 years before I sold the building. NO SHORT CUTS ALLOWED and no let up in vigilance. Get a new landscaper. This one can not see a repercussion coming to save his life.

      The bamboo that I had was golden bamboo that my husband tore up from the park by the river (bad boy). Its loss was never noticed. It was in central austin. I think Mosquitos breed in water held in the leaves or something because we had a huge mosquito problem that grew as the bamboo grew. It was beautiful. I would not plant it again.

    • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
      9 years ago

      The containment has to be on BOTH sides. The loud neighbor side and your side. A friends back yard has been overrun by the neighbors black running bamboo. That neighbor carefully contained it on his side and with great consideration (HA!) gifted friend have an unlimited supply. They are no longer on talking terms since this neighbor refuses to pay for or help pay for the containment on the other side of the fence. Bamboo , the gift that keeps on giving . It will take over the world.

    • PRO
      Bamboo Sourcery Nursery & Gardens
      6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      Hi there! There seems to be a lot of landscape professionals and homeowners alike who do not know the proper way to contain an aggressive running bamboo! If planted in ground, we recommend lining a 26-28" trench with 60 mm x 30" tall root barrier, overlapped by 20" and sealed with 2 metal straps, bolted through, leaving 2" at least sticking up above ground. The bamboo shoots will not penetrate this barrier and unless severely root bound will not seek to escape deeper. With this setup, the landscaper or homeowner just needs to watch for any potential escaping rhizomes OVER the barrier, which are very visible and easy to cut back. An ounce of prevention makes for happy neighbors and elegantly controlled bamboo! (Photo is of the 30" x 60 mm root barrier with strap.)

    • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
      6 years ago

      The OUNCE OF CONTROL is more like pounds of control and more than a pretty penny. Many do not take the time or the effort to dig a 2'+ ditch and line it with root barrier. or do it only on their side and not the neighbors side. One still needs to check for escapes that go over the edge once a year and that does not always happen when gardeners get old or sell the home to ignorant or lazy sellers. Reality is not always how one designs it at the nursery. Neighborhoods of Austin , San Antonio, Houston are choked with bamboo. It is one of the banes of old neighborhoods.

    • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
      6 years ago

      Not to mention, we all NEED to think beyond our own mortality. It is the responsible thing to do. None of us will be here forever to contain the potential problems we create and more importantly, none of us knows when an unforeseen disability or demise will affect that. We all think to ourselves, "I will be able to control that" - BUT - you don't know when life will suddenly change and you either aren't around, or aren't physically able to control that! The responsible thing - if you care about the future of your area and your planet - is to not knowingly plant invasives in the first place.

    • kentuck_
      6 years ago

      I would not plant a running bamboo even with a barrier. Barriers fail, and if they are not installed properly, they won't work at all. Even with a properly installed barrier, you have some maintenance to keep the bamboo contained.

      What you want to plant is a clumping bamboo, one of the Bambusas would be best and they work really well for barriers and hedges. Varieties range from a few feet to over 40 feet in height. I grow over 40 varieties of Bambusas alone and they are a pleasure to grow compared to runners.

    • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
      6 years ago

      Barriers fail, and if they are not installed properly, they won't work at all.

      And none of them work, even if installed "properly", 100 years from now when you and I aren't here but the running bamboo still is...


      Clumping bamboo is a good option as long as you are 1,000% sure you know what you got and no one made a mistake.

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