Bamboo..

[berean73]

New around here. I'm on BYC also. So, are there any bamboo experts round here? I live in Tucson, Az and want to use some for some screen, but don't want it to be too dense. I want it to be more wide spread than deep ya know what I mean? Any help would be thanked!

Z

 

[HiDelight]

welcome! not sure how to grow it in Tucson
but here you go some stuff on bamboo I am a big fan ...some hate it ...I love it!

check this link out

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26153

 

[berean73]

Thanks a bunch! I use to have it pre-exsisting in an old apartment backyard, but have since bought a home. I really loved the sound it made in the wind, and it would work perfectly to block out the apartment complex looming over my backyard!

 

[HiDelight]

I know the sound is one of the most wonderful things about it! I just adore the fact it keeps noise down and gives you that bamboo rustle!

and the shoots are food go figure huh?

what type did you want to plant? there are so many varieties ..I wish I could grow the timber bamboo but that would be insane and get me evicted from my neighborhood for sure!

 

[berean73]

I really don't even know what type I want right now. I was wondering however, when transplanting from someone elses plant, how is that done? How much root do I need? I am way new at this gardening thing.

 

[obsessed]

I know the sound is one of the most wonderful things about it! I just adore the fact it keeps noise down and gives you that bamboo rustle!

and the shoots are food smile go figure huh?


How do you eat/harvest the shoots? Thanks

 

[HiDelight]

you do not need much of anything to start bamboo since it is grass just get a clump if you can ..if you can just get a piece get as much of the root as you can and then to be sure (but really you do not have to I am just thinking of Tuscon as having very dry sweet soil) dip it in some rooting hormone and just stick it a pot for a while ..water it well for a while and then put it in the ground when you have a whole clump....in fact you have to have a plan on how to keep it from running ..I would go for a clumping variety ..as the running kind will chase you all over the yard! ..although for all the horror stories I have heard I really do not have a problem with my neighbors golden bamboo I just eat the shoots! or let the pole grow and cut them for utitilty things ...

I love black bamboo and am hoping to get some from a generous soul who offered give me a piece

it is very pretty and not so invasive as other kinds you do not have to put black bamboo in a contained area I see it in a lot of landscapes around here
but it is very pricey so you have to see if someone will share
or if you have an unlimited budget go and buy some ..but really people will share trust me I would if you wanted some just come dig it up!

 

[Rosalind]

Word of advice about bamboo:

Keep it in some kind of container. If you want it for screening, I would dig a trench where you want it to be, then fill the trench along the bottom and sides with bags of Quik-crete. You can just stick the whole bags, unopened, along the bottom and sides of the trench, then water them with the hose, and they will harden up.

It goes every-freakin-where. Even in very dry climates. Even on the Asian steppe. Every-freakin-where. Very very invasive stuff. Should you decide someday that you don't want it, should your neighbors not want it in their yard, too bad--it goes there anyway.

Longwood Gardens, a Philadelphia-area display garden type of thing, decided to install some bamboo one year, reasoning that as professional horticulturalists with a platoon of regular gardeners to trim, prune, dig, and hack to bits, they would have no problem keeping it contained. PennDOT now has very serious problems because the regular mowers they use on median strips around I-76 are not capable of mowing bamboo shoots, and the bloody forest of bamboo escapees is obstructing drivers' view of oncoming traffic at some intersections.

 

[HiDelight]

everything Rosalind says is true but I love it anyway and could not do with out it now

I like the quickcrete idea I just do not want to dig trenches and can not find anyone to do it for me