Growing Bamboo

[caithnesscrofter]

Am really starting to get super interested in growing some hardy bamboos especially for my windbreak I'm planning. I need something that grows fast, is evergreen, will tolerate high cold winds and is a multiuse plant. Bamboo seemed like the perfect option. I know there are types like Metake (Pseudoasa Japonica) and Medake (Pleioblastus simonii) that are tolerable of just about anything and survive typhoons (sounds right up our street) LOL

Anybody ever grow bamboo from seed or use it in a shelterbelt as I am planning to try? Any advice would be appreciated. I also plan to grow a few more species when we have a bit more shelter.. recommend any good types?

[digiveg]

I don't know much about bamboo, but we have a couple of clumps in our garden that have survived several winters so far. One of them is 'black' bamboo, nice and dense, and best of all it doesn't spread like a plague. I planted a chunk of root on my allotment a couple of years ago that I got from a garden in Swanage. It looked big and strong enough to supply me with bean poles. However, it SPREAD! I had to go onto the neighbours patch to dig up the runners.

So: the moral of this story is, make sure you get one that stays where you want it! 'Cos otherwise, it won't!

[caithnesscrofter]

I hear that some like to run all over the place. Black bamboo is quite popular so it seems. So, did you get a few nice bean supports out of it then?

[Boots]

I have never grown bamboo from seeds... Wouldn't even know where the seeds are!! Does it have seeds?

We shoot bamboo by cutting up the canes, and putting the 'node' or 'knuckle' beneath the surface. Keep it wet and off she goes... Grows like sugar cane.

[Wombat]

According to a book I read once it does seed rarely and when it does it flowers, sets seed and dies off, all in one lot, all around the world! Could be a hassle if you subsist on bamboo!

Nev

[Jack]

Gidday

Yep you are right Nev. If I remember right the cycle is 75 years. I can only remember it happening once so far so I may not be as old as I feel.

As far as I know there are two basic types of bamboo but hundreds within each type. The types are a clumping one and a running one and the running one sure can run and can be bloody hard to control.

[aussie]

Hi Jack, I've bumped into you in another place. I have several types of bamboo growing, and as Jack says the sort that runs can become a curse.
I would imagine that in a cold climate it would not become a problem, and livestock keep it under control if they can get to it to eat. Ornemantal bamboo grows only to 6 or 7 feet high and is very dense, and an excellent screening plant and windbreak. It's used as a windbreak in colder areas here but in sub-tropical parts can be a nightmare to control.
Where I am, half-way between Sydney and Brisbane, it's regarded as a pest, whereas in areas like ( and the aussies will know these are high altitude areas) Combyne and Doriggo, it's seems to be used without any problems. I also have black bamboo, mentioned above- this tends to run here.And painted bamboo, which grows to around 25 feet high, has a yellow trunk with a green stripe down it, and is non-invasive.

[hedgewizard]

Even the non-invasive ones get a bit thicker every year, and eventually have to be dealt with most harshly. We had to take our 20-year old clump out with a handy JCB (and it's trying to grow back from fragments left in the ground) It took me two days and a mattock to chop the root ball up enough to burn!

[Muddypause]

My dad wanted to grow bamboo. There was a large ornamental clump in the neighbouring garden, and he aquired some from them. Planted it, and spent years amazed at how it did absolutely nothing - neighbouring clumps were vigorous, dense towers; his remained at half a dozen shoots a few feet high.