jfelco

I am interested in putting some bamboo shoots in my front yard. i have a very small front yard, about 10'x15'. i have peat gravel covering all of it, besides the pavement to the front door. from what i know, bamboo roots grow wild and are impossible to tame. they can even cause damage to concrete near it. i was hoping to get some input as to how i can go about planting these.

do i need a big planter box?

BadNick

From what I see in our area, anybody who plants bamboo is eventually nearly overrun with the stuff, so it can't be hard to grow. If it was more "controllable" I'd try it cause I like the look of a small row of bamboo.

From even small couple inch long cuttings, even one section of a live bamboo stalk can be cut into multiple short lengths, each will grow roots if kept moist, then planted. Or if you have access to longer stalks with some leaf on it to look nicer at start-up, just plant and keep the root area moist. I bet you could shove cut stalks into the ground and if kept moist, they'd grow and spread like crazy.

To somewhat limit uncontrolled overgrowth, consider a pet panda bear.

jfelco

ive seen it grow like crazy, and i am trying to avoid that. i only want a thin row to keep some privacy in.

maybe i can get a panda bear on ebay...

ratbastid

Yeah, short of having your very own butterstick, there's not much chance of keeping bamboo in check. I've heard of it breaking out of the bottom of planters and seeding in the surrounding soil. It's like the Chinese kudzu.

Elphaba

jfelco, plant the bamboo within a solid container. The roots are contained from spreading and you can easily move or remove the entire plant at a later time.

skier

solid container?

make it a welded steel box, half submerged so it blends into the ground better. i wouldn't trust concrete to do the job well enough, let alone ceramic or plastic planters.

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jfelco

i was thinking of putting a solid container in the ground, but wasnt sure how deep i would have to put it. i read that it is recommended 30" deep and 40 mm thick to contain it. thats a pretty big hole.

would the roots break through a plastic container/ planter box?

JStrider

check out this thread before you do...

How to get rid of Bamboo in the yard - http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=22393

just so you know what you'll be getting into if it escapes the planter...

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jfelco

yea, it seems that bamboo is very difficult to keep under control.

im hoping to find a way around this.

clavus

There is no way around it. It will break out of a concrete container, plastic container, metal container, etc. Maybe if you had a container made out of fire...

How about planting something else? Fast-growing, low maintainence privacy screen plants include -
Oleander - grows anywhere with nearly zero effort, but it is poison (so don't eat or smoke it).
Privet - grows like a weed here in NorCal. It will go from zero to hedge over the course of a Summer. Iv'e seen it grow over 15' tall.

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jfelco

im considering other 'privacy screen plants'

i was hoping to do bamboo because most yard consist of a japanese theme. i have a couple bonsai plants, peat gravel to cover the whole yard, and some other japanese artifacts.

what about a 5'-6' palm?

Elphaba

I've not seen bamboo go leaping out of a container and spread, but it must be true. Perhaps bamboo in an above gound, decorative container would serve.

I loved my Oleander in NoCal, but it was as common as dirt as all the freeway medians had them. I had an African Tree Fern that was beautiful, but I don't think it would support an Oriental garden motif. Hedge plants are meant to be sheared and shaped; again not a compliment to bonzai.

I seem to have misread your op. I think of bamboo as a privacy screen, but you haven't indicated that that was your purpose. From what you have described of your property and the neighborhood, I would recommend a water feature. Either a water fall or water fall with pool would work very well and home kits are available for the less than clever folks like myself. Lotus plants and koi in the pool would be very Zen like.

I hope you will share photos of the before and after. It sound like a great project.

BigTruck1956

When youre ready to plant, I have lots of bamboo for you. Free!! You have to come dig it out though...heh heh

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jfelco

elphaba- i thought about putting a little water fall in the corner, but id really like to get a 'wall' of something in first. ive had oleanders before, and they were great for a barrier, but my yard is too small to have these, on top of the fact it wont go with the theme.

maybe a little pond next to the bamboo to keep it from running...

caver

Have you considered clumping bamboo? These are species of bamboo, which send up their new shoots right next to the mother plant. Unfortunately the only links I can find to pictures at the moment are commercial nurseries.
Look for the species Bambusa Multiplex, for a starting place.
The American Bamboo Society, http://www.americanbamboo.org/index.html
has a publication called the "species source list." This lists all of the species known to be available in the US, and several which may not be. It includes
Maximum height, Diameter, and minimum temperature suitable for each species.
Also included, is a listing of dealers in each species.

In a 10ftX15ft area, I would only use a runner in an above ground container.
There is a great deal more to be said about bamboo, but this should get you started in the right direction.

boatin

i bought something called bamboo barrier from the local bamboo nursery. It's really thick plastic that came in a big roll, and it's 28" or 32" deep. Bamboo roots don't go deeper than that. You dig a hole, and line the hole with the barrier. You circle the hole with the barrier, and connect the two ends with a metal strip on each side that is screwed together.

Not sure if that is a good description, but I put it in 5 years ago, and it works a treat. The trick is to leave 2 inches or so out of the ground, and to put the level of the bamboo a couple of inches below the ground. So that you've got 4 inches between the topsoil and the top of hte barrier.

As the bamboo grows within the barrier, the roots will displace the dirt and the top of the soil will rise. If you don't check it yearly, roots WILL go over the top of the barrier, particularly if you let leaves accumulate and create a ground layer. But if you check it every couple of months, you're fine.

I've got bamboo running 30 feet on each side of my property, and have for 5 years with no troubles. But it's not a plant for the person that likes zero maintenance!

Check to see if there is a bamboo grower/nursery in your area - they can probably treat you right. Good luck!

snowy

That is an excellent idea. We were thinking planting some bamboo in our backyard as a privacy shield. Usually I just keep it in planters, and around here I've had no problem with it spreading out of the planters. I'll have to look into it.

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