Bamboo

[Adultinthemaking]

Hi.

Ive just bought some bamboo plants but just been told they can spread like the plague do you have any good tips on what to use as a barrier or how to keep it in check

Thank you

x

I've heard of people planting them into borders still in (large) containers with drainage to stop this?

Don't do it. We had bamboo in our last house (put there by previous owners) - every spring it would send a load of shoots out into the rest of the garden, pushing up through concrete paving stones and pebbles - a real pain to cut them down to the earth every year - can't dig them out either as connected to the main plant...

If you must - some good advice here:

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=210

Depends on the type of bamboo, some are spreaders some are clumpers, do you know what you have?

I have phyllostachys nitida (sp?) aka black bamboo which are quite well behaved. My DM bought some plants sold as 'black bamboo' which is actually fargesia (sp?) which are happily taking over her garden, it even travelled underneath the patio and up through the pond through the pond liner

If you have a spreader you can:
A keep it in a pot.
B surround it with a barrier e.g thick plastic ( I have previously use plastic pots with he bottom cut out sunk into the ground with a little above the soil level).
C dig a trench around it and cut off any spreading shoots at least yearly.

Black bamboo clumps and doesn't 'run', is evergreen and very attractive. It is the ONLY bamboo I would contemplate.

The bamboo should have a species name so you can Google it to see if it clumps or runs.

I use clumping bamboo and it still gets quite big, but wouldn't go near running species.

A clump-forming variety can be grown in the ground without too many issues. Not all fargesia are runners - some are clumpers! I have the umbrella fargesia, and it's lovely and quite trouble-free.

If you have a running form, putting in a barrier is a BIG job. It has to go quite a long way beneath the surface of the soil. And you will need something really tough to do it. Check out Youtube videos. The alternative is growing in a pot and watering assiduously.

I had a black bamboo which I killed and a yellow one, both clumping. The yellow one has been in 16 odd years and while it is about 12 ft plus it obviously hasnt spread. I've had five plants off it in the last year...they were a bugger to dig out

I planted a bamboo about 3 years ago, it's grown loads but has deffo not "spread" it's my favourite plant in our garden