Need well behaved big bamboo in New Bern

I am looking for a clumping type bamboo to plant as part of a landscaping screen at the back of our lot, near a drainage ditch which runs between our lot and a vacant lot where a house could be built in the future.

I thought I wanted Green Screen, but when I actually saw it (at Bamboo Headquarters in Vista, California) the stalks (what are these called?) were pretty thin. I have a vision of something about 12 - 15 ft. high, with stalks 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Environment would be part/part shade.

I love the bamboo stand at the Carl Sandburg House in Flat Rock, but suspect it is not clumping and therefore not well behaved.

Bamboo Headquarters recommended Borinda Boliana. Has anyone had any luck with something of this nature, and where can I get it without paying the big bucks to buy from Bamboo Headquarters?

Thanks in advance,
Entlie

Hmmm... that's kind of a big culm diameter for a short clumper. Most clumpers that short, at least the popular ones around Gainesville, Florida in zone 8b, are skinny in the culms. I suppose that you could plant something taller and cut off the culms at the desired height -- they won't grow any taller -- but that seems impractical if not silly. The bigger diameter ones tend to hit twenty feet or more, and the clumps can get fairly wide with age.

If you haven't already, check out the American Bamboo Society website, www.americanbamboo.org and their species/source tables -- a bit cumbersome to look through, but very informative. Their description of Borinda boliana sounds good: maximum height of 24 feet, maximum culm diameter of two inches, tolerance of 10 degrees F, likes partial shade. I have no experience with that whatever, sadly. Availability and cost might be a problem: except for the commonest varieties, bamboos are EXPENSIVE as nursery plants. They can be difficult to propagate and establish (once they're established in a halfway-congenial environment, there's no stopping them, but getting them to that point can be hard) and digging up a section suitable for transplant can be laborious.

Most species take time to get up to the advertised diameter and height. You might have years of half-inch culms on a supposed two-incher.

A ditch sufficiently deep, preferably if it's usually filled with water, will stop running bamboos from spreading across it. "Always filled with water" is a safer bet, though, and that probably doesn't hold in your case. Vigilant mowing (or eating, if you catch them young and the species is suitable) of errant shoots works for some people, but I can understand why you'd prefer a clumper to a runner.

I've grown various species of Phyllostachys (runners) for a few years, and they can get out of control. I've grown some of the medium-sized clumpers like Bambusa multiplex (prefers full sun, 18 F hardiness) and Bambusa textilis (similar) and Bambusa ventricosa (now renamed as a variety of B. tuldoides, about the same properties), and they have been set back by 20F freezes and seem really to need the sun: I can't really recommend them for your situation.

Good luck!

Thanks very much for your input! Maybe I'll have to set my sights on smaller clums. I appreciated your comments on water barriers. Most of the stuff I read says that bamboos won't go deeper than 2 1/2 feet to run, but I wasn't sure if that needed to be a metal barrier, or fabric, or what. I would only have a ditch on one side. I'd better stick to clumpers.

There is a guy in Havelock, NC, near Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, whose mother planted a shoot of bamboo that came home in his uniform from Viet Nam back in the 70's. He now has a beautiful bamboo forest behind his house, interspersed with Carolina Pines and as tall (50 feet or so, I think). But you can see how invasive it is. When I was there he has two 15 ft. runners that had sprouted close to his house, about 30 feet away from the nearest trees. I couldn't do that to my neighbors. He wants $10 per tree.

So my search goes on - I will definitely put in something this spring, probably a clumper, and smaller than I would like, but I want to get it started.

Appreciate all of your comments.

Entlie

Try Thamnocalamus tessalatus... it is a reasonably hardy (down to 0), medium sized clumping bamboo from S. Africa. It falls withing the specified heighth/culm diameter specs you want, and it also is pretty readily available.

Hikaro Takayama, Thanks for your suggestion. I did quite a bit of research on Thamnocalamus Tessellatus, and just ordered some from Bamboo Headquarters in the San Diego area.

I'm so excited about getting it here and in the ground! Hope to post some pictures as it flourishes!

Entlie

Glad to be of help :) Sine It's supposed to be hardy down to 0 or so, I'm tempted to try it out here.... I've found already that some of the hardiness data on certain bamboos is off by 5-10 degrees....

First case in point: Phyllostachys nigra is supposed to be able to handle temps down to 0 with no damage, but the past two years temps here barely got below 0 and the whole plant defoliated

Second case in point, Semiarundiaria fastuosa is supposed to be hardy to -5 or -10, yet it also has defoliated the past two years.

Third case: I accidentally got some Phyllostachys Bambusoides 'Castillions Inversa) with two small clumps of Pseudosasa Japonica that I dug up (the P. japonica performed as expected, with some leaf damage, but otherwise alright). P. bambusoides is only supposed to be hardy to FIVE degrees, but this year it got down to around 0 or slightly below two nights in a row, with a third night down to around 5 or a little lower, and it has come through with NO damage......

Which makes me willing to try the Thamnocalamus tessalatus to see how it stacks up.

Well my Thamnocalamus Tessellatus arrived from Bamboo Headquarters and we planted it within the hour of its arrival. The packaging was great - it came in a tall cardboard box, in a 5 gallon black plastic pot that had been wrapped with Saran wrap type stuff to keep the plant from shifting in the pot or the dirt from falling out.

In the photo I have written "New Bamboo" directly under the plant so you can determine which one it is in the landscape. I am hoping for a beautiful clump of bamboo to that becomes part of our screen in the event someone builds behind us some day.

FYI, Bamboo Headquarters is in Vista, CA, and their web site is bambooheadquarters.com

Entlie

Make sure you know the clumping varieties before you buy. I bought somethin or other edulis as a clumper on the word of a nursery person, and oh boy did we pay for it. I gave up on it and lawn mowed it., two years later it came back with a vengence, lifting up the sidewalk 10 feet away. It was just as much trouble to get rid of as digging out a stump. Frank

Someone sold Phyllostachys edulis as a clumper?! They aught to be hanged for criminal mis-information! P. edulis is the world's largest temperate RUNNING bamboo, which can grow up to 90 ft tall and get culms 8 inches in diameter... There are FORESTS (7 million acres in all) of that bamboo in China where it is the principle canopy tree...

Unless what he was selling was Acidosasa edulis, which isn't as big, but is an aggressive runner as well....

I have a clumping bamboo given to me as Budda's Belly,at some point the internodes are supposed to become slightly rounded like a belly.My clumps have been growing for over 15 and have stayed in the same spot. The clumps and diameter of the culms just keep getting larger. It grows in the shade of some pine trees in clay soil and doesn't get alot of attention. Some years if I get weather in th upper or mid 20 degres lots of the leves fall off but come right back.

To start a barrier you need to dig a trench and lay the culms (cut back leaves and stems to just above ground) and cover with good soil.The bamboo will root and send up a new clump at almost every internode. You may also cut bamboo in manageable lengths, put in long 5 or 6 inch deep containers and cover with !/2 and 1/2 pearlite and course vermuculite or whatever rooting medium you use and treat like any cutings. In about six weeks you should notice sprouts coming up. Your bamboo is rooted. Cut the pieces between sprouts and plant out as close as you want. My plants are now about six feet around and getting closer all the time. They were originally planted about ten feet apart. No diseases or pests. Will be glad to send you some if you think they will live, I am in zone 8b.
Good luck,
Little bioxi

How about, Arundinaria gigantea. It is one of only three bamboo species native to North America. It is very hardy, down to minus 4 degrees F. It's culms grow to 30 ft. X 1 1/2 inches.

Arundinaria tecta is a closely related species and is good in wet areas.

Better yet! Arundinaria appalachiana has recently been described (March 13, 2007) from your area, and is known as "Hill Cane" Bamboo. It is found as close to you as Camp Arrowhead, Henderson Co., NC. This bamboo is disctinctive as it is deciduous.
It would be great if you could grow this rare plant in your garden!
I hope garden starts are available!

Aloha, Dave

Mmm. Interesting. There is a wild bamboo here that grows about 5 ft. high, and has very sparse leaves. It's appearance is just ok. I will check out Arundinaria appalachiana and compare. I'm interested in the "delicious" comment.
My thamnocalamus tessalata is barely hanging on. I wonder if I should move it to a spot with more sun.
I've been gone a lot (off cruising on our boat for 6 months), so my garden is needing a lot of tlc.
Entlie

Hi Entlie, the term is deciduous, meaning it drops it's leaves in winter. However, upon researching it more, I found that Arundinacea appalachiana does not get very big, as you would like.

Arundinacea gigantea does get to be as large as the bamboo you are looking for.

Aloha, Dave

Thanks! I'll check that out.

Entlie

Entlie- your bush land looks great, you sure the bamboo won't spread and ruin it. I'd try to plant something native as a screen.

Breeindy,
It shouldn't spread - it's a "clumper."
Entlie

Arundinacea gigantea is a native, it's a clumper so won't run, and it makes a great screen!

Fargesia robusta is a clumper, a close relative of "Green Screen" (F. rufa).

But F. robusta has somewhat larger culms. ABS lists F. rufa as around 1/2" diameter, and F. robusta up to 1".

Corey

Well we planted this Thamnocalamus Tessellatus in 2007, and it is barely hanging on, in a place where we thought it would thrive. It might have been a little wet there, and not have received as much sun as we had hoped. So yesterday we moved it. to a slightly drier, more sunny spot. Here's hoping.....