Bamboo Privacy
There has been a lot of posts asking about planting bamboo. I am well aware of how invasive it is and the options to contain it. What I want to know is if anyone has actually done it and if they had any pointers for someone who is a newbie at this. My house is…
There has been a lot of posts asking about planting bamboo. I am well aware of how invasive it is and the options to contain it. What I want to know is if anyone has actually done it and if they had any pointers for someone who is a newbie at this. My house is next to a huge new condo and I would like some additional privacy. And advice greatly appreciated.
Wyckoff, can you tell me who removed it for you? Our yard is being taken over by our neighbor’s bamboo. We need to at least try to remove it and put down a barrier.
Thanks!
OP here…Thanks everybody, especially wyckoff, the mosquitoes in my backyard are already unbearable, didn’t realize it was such a magnet for them.
Juno – I planted a 17×4 stand of what became 14′ high bamboo along the rear border of my yard for privacy. 2 summers ago I ripped it all out at considerable expense. The reasons were multiple, but the 2 main ones were 1) Mosquitoes LOVE this plant and they will breed and congregate in your stand. Our mosquito issues are now 1/10 of what they were when we had the bamboo. 2) no matter what you put down as a barrier, it will probably find a way out eventually – we had shoots come up in the neighbors yard that traveled under the foundation of a 5′ brick wall. There are some good nurseries in CG/Red Hook that can give you some good alternatives.
Check out: JMBamboo.com
They sell the rhizone barrier, and also have good info on each species.
I’ve put david bisset in containers and rarely had a freezing problem.
Yellow groove seems to do OK in NY, and I’ve seen it in really tall stands.
You can contain it by the using the barrier-
You can also just use a spade and your foot to make cuts in the ground around it once or twice a year- it will break the roots that are spreading. If it goes somewhere you dont want, it will come up as a single shoot, and you can clip it or mow it.
Take 2 foot wide roof aluminum flashing . It is used to keep snow from building up at the edges of a roof. ENCIRCLE the area where you are planting the bamboo and plant your bamboo within the circle. I had bamboo in my yard for 8 years and it never escaped. There are also clumping bamboos that you can plant expect the cost to be $$$ you might try Virginia junipers they are narrow and tall and offer much more dense screening. Also Bamboos look great in the snow. Good luck
I am not gardener, but I would imagine that the bamboos trees will freeze if planet in the box above the ground.
hmm, well it says in their instructions that the barrier isn’t enough for some varieties (dont know which you’re considering) and it sounds like the seams are the key and it wasnt clear to me how the seams are sealed. Does sound simpler.
I did find this stuff: High-density polyethylene plastic rhizome barrier: http://bamboosourcery.com/cat_frame.cfm?
Well I was thinking the planter would be at least partially below ground–sort of a big trough with smooth flat bottom and sides. The cement would contain the plants. Could be poured in place. Heavy plastic won’t be enough. Wood will decompose. Other materials would be expensive.