Hardy Tropicals UK

Hmmm I'm planting about 20 of these this year.

Root barriers required.

I liked it better before they removed it...

miketropic wrote:I liked it better before they removed it...

Me too. Sure if you leave it to its own devices then that can happen but if looked after and kept in check it shouldn't spread like that. Then again I could be eating my words in a few years

in open ground like that you just need to keep snapping off the new shoots while they are soft when they appear in the wrong places.

although new shoots everywhere in a kids playground could be dangerous since they are like little spikes

planted 3 bamboos in August........at the weekend I was digging the borders do a spring clean up......and all 3 bamboos have ran about 2ft .....so I have lifted them and they will be going in metal containers.

I'm looking forward to mine spreading. I'm not crazy and planting Sasas willynilly but Phyllostachys should be more manageable.

Yorkshire Kris wrote:I'm looking forward to mine spreading. I'm not crazy and planting Sasas willynilly but Phyllostachys should be more manageable.

Some Phyllostachys are manageable-ish, some are not. Choose with extreme care! If it's for a screen or hedge, then Fargesia is one of the safest to use. Most Phyllostachys are not really suitable for small gardens, and it often means a nightmare of a job a few years later trying to dig them out! And remember, root barriers are far from 100% secure.

The Codfather wrote:.....so I have lifted them and they will be going in metal containers.

Yes, make sure they're quarter inch steel!

David York wrote:

Yorkshire Kris wrote:I'm looking forward to mine spreading. I'm not crazy and planting Sasas willynilly but Phyllostachys should be more manageable.

Some Phyllostachys are manageable-ish, some are not. Choose with extreme care! If it's for a screen or hedge, then Fargesia is one of the safest to use. Most Phyllostachys are not really suitable for small gardens, and it often means a nightmare of a job a few years later trying to dig them out! And remember, root barriers are far from 100% secure.

The last 30 ft of my garden I want to be "wild" with bamboos, palms and Eucalyptus growing how they like. They wont be blocking out the sun from the garden so happy for the growth to be tall and wide. I've gone for the biggest varieties

prominens
iridescens
edulis
vivax yellow
vixax green
henonis
boryana
C gigantea
Shanghai 3
parvifolia

We planted a vigorous bamboo in our last house for a hedge and within months it had spread underground about a meter and started to sprout, scared me half to death and we dug them all out. Made me realise how invasive some species can be, if it had been left another season it would have been almost impossible to remove.

I planted Phyllostachys aurea about 2.5 years ago. First year fine, second....well that looks nice, and thenThree weeks ago, when looking over the garden, I noticed a shoot popping up 3m away the other side of a Magnolia. Time to dig out!! proceed with caution!!!

Some nice varieties of Fargesia available. Fargesia Robusta Campbell or Pingwu is a tall hardy uprite, that's non invasive!

well to put it simply if you plant a running bamboo and don't expect it to run and spread you are just thick.

I just plant fargesia in with the rest of the normal plants in borders and the running types are contained.

kris, how will you keep the wild part segregated? maybe you should put some kind of barrier to stop bamboos appearing in your raised bed area, under the deck boards etc...

Mr List wrote:well to put it simply if you plant a running bamboo and don't expect it to run and spread you are just thick.

I just plant fargesia in with the rest of the normal plants in borders and the running types are contained.

kris, how will you keep the wild part segregated? maybe you should put some kind of barrier to stop bamboos appearing in your raised bed area, under the deck boards etc...

The wild area will be level with the top of the sleepers so the rhizomes will have to go down a foot then across 2 feet to get into the raised beds. I can see some doing this but hopefully I will be able to manage those that do by spotting them early and cutting them off at the base. Any that go into the fields will get eaten by the cows. Might have a bit of problem if they appear in next doors gardens but I'll cross that bridge.....