I'm looking for bamboo starts -- I have no idea how to start it -- with a cutting, I presume? Needs to be winter hardy to zone 8. Will anyone do SASE with me? Thank you!!! Gretchen
Looking for bamboo
You might also want to post on the Grass and Bamboo Forum if you didn't already. Most people forget about forums they don't use all the time. ;)
Bless you heart, Badseed! I didn't think of it, but I am sure glad that you did :) Thank you!!!
Kaufmann, when you get this stuff make sure and do your homework on it. Don't get one that will take you over. All of them can be contained just make sure you do it right....there are many that are not invasive and are really pretty.....
Let me know what you get, I might be intrested in some of the newer types myself.....
Dee
Gretchen,
Make sure you get a "clumping" type of bamboo or your acre of land will become all bamboo. Those runners can travel a long ways.
Donna
Gretchen, bamboo can travel blocks and blocks. You will really be surprised and it won't take them long either. In just one growing season you can have bamboo shoots coming up all over your yard. And you can't eat it either, to tough...
Thats why I suggested that you do your homework on these. Some bamboo can be a problem if they get outta control and very hard to kill. Roundup has its work cut out for them on this one if you have to resort to weed killer....LOL
Use to have Bamboo along the river bank, even the floods wouldn't reduce them or slow them down. If you are wondering what happened to them.....nothing......we moved....LOL
Good Luck....
Dee
LOL - Dee thank you for the info! I may change my mind on that one, or maybe I can find a non-invasive variety. I just want something that is fast growing to provide a screen and protection from the afternoon sun to my little greenhouse.
SoCal: Thank you too! :)
Good to hear it Kaufmann... but please don't give up the idea of bamboo just be really selective and informed in what your getting. There are some varities that are not as invasive and pretty easy to control. So many of them are really pretty and would be an addition to any garden, so just keep looking and you'll find the right ones....in the meantime I'll look to when I have some time and let you know what I come up with....
I know Paul James had a program about them not long ago and here is the link for it.....
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_grasses/article/0,,HGTV_3607_1729256,00.html I watch him all the time.....he's the greatest, I love his humor and sillyness.....
I had a feeling just maybe you didn't know what some of the more aggressive ones could do.......ohhhh, shudder, shudder....LOL
Dee
Dee: I knew they could be invasive, I just didn't realize HOW invasive! Thank you!!!
Kaufmann, you can use metal barriers that go down at least three feet into the ground so they don't run. But they say that they even skip over the top and root. I have about 8 varieties that I just love but, have them in containers. Although we do have a couple of acres, I still have not been able to decide where to plant them.. it is a fear I have now.. I did put in two of the timber bamboo way out back last year and they have not done anything, maybe one or two shoots.. that one is a clumper. If you can get a barrier put in that is the solution (I think a concrete bed that deep is the answer but I don't have the funds to do it.. and I keep acquiring more runners.. (you can get away with some runners in containers for a couple of years and then split them up into more containers and get your shade that way. Keeping an eye on the bottom holes of the containers so that they do not sneak out and root on you)I just love them.. I bought a Golden Bamboo (clumper) at the Home Depot in San Bernardino for 20.00 last year and it is still in the five gallon pot it came in, soon, I will also divide my pots to make my self some shade in this desert..lol.. There should be some good advice on the grasses and bammboo forum too.. Antoinette
Antoinette and Dee -- thank you both so much! I had not done enough research, and I'm very thankful for your input!
You could plant them in a water trough. They are long and sometimes you can buy them fairly cheap. Line them up and you'll have a screen. :D Or, maybe those cheap kiddy pools at walmart and then plant something to cover the pools?
* typoes,lol*
This message was edited Feb 13, 2004 8:38 AM
Gourd - I've just acquired a rhizome of the timber bamboo (don't know which one but it's Japanese). Are these invasive. You mention they are clumping. Does that apply to all timber bamboos? What conditions do these like?
Many thanks
Sue
Try the information on Bamboos at http://www.americanbamboo.org/ they have great charts on what type of growth for each of the bamboos. They also can give you the hardiness of each of them. I find this site a great reference.
Happy Bambooing.
Prudence, I dont' know if all timber bamboo's are clumpers, but you can control their growth by snipping off the new shoots when they are coming up. Mine have not spread at all, just a few new shoots. I am lucky to keep them alive here with this heat. I think that the less water they get, the less invasive they will be because the less they will grow. Ponditis up there has a good link for information. The one clumper (Timber) that does get alot of water had a shoot come up within two months of planting, you can tell if yours is a clumper if the next shoot that comes up is right next to the plant. If the shoot is far away from the momma, then it is probably a runner. This is just from observing mine and the runners in pots also send up shoots at the end of the pot or circles the pot. Please do more research incase I am way off base..
Kaufman, don't give up, where's there's a will, there's a way. have fun..
thanks for the info.
Sue