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tomtbone

Running bamboo along back fence

tomtbone
14 years ago

I would like to have some advice on whether or not I should go through with my bamboo project. I live in MA and am starting work on a patio in the back yard. I will have a 3 foot wide strip between the patio and back fence that I would like to plant something in to block the neighbor's house. I don't think I will be able to get behind the bamboo (once its grown) against the fence and cut any rhizomes, so I am considering a complete barrier with 60mil 30" HDPE. Anyone see any problems with this? It will probably be about a 20'x3' strip enclosed with the barrier.

Thanks all!

Comments (8)

  • kudzu9
    14 years ago

    That's probably your only option to prevent it from running to the neighbor's yard. Just be aware that, even though bamboo barrier is good stuff, I have seen it penetrated once or twice. It's important when installing it to have it lean back from the bamboo at about 10 degrees so that rhizomes that hit the barrier are deflected upwards.

  • tomtbone
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I think thats why I am going to go with 60 mil stuff and not fool around.

    With a 20' long stretch how many plants should I go with?

  • kudzu9
    14 years ago

    The bamboo will need about 3 years in the ground to really start filling out. If you can wait that long, 3 plants equally spaced would be the minimum.

  • tomtbone
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I was thinking of getting size 3 plants. Do I plant the ones on the ends about 3 feet say from the end of the barrier? I might just go with 4.

    I'm researching all of the internet nurseries and trying to decide on the different varieties. Right now Spectabilis or decora look nice, just can't decide what color I want.

  • satelliteles
    14 years ago

    Be very careful with the Bamboo Barrier. Be sure to dig your trench completely - don't try to dig the outsides in order to put the barrier into the ground while maintaining the inner soil - this would cause you considerable problems as the easiest soil fot the rhizomes to travel in is the soil you dug just inside and outside of the barrier - a sure recipe for rhizome spread under your barrier... - not that you asked for this info, but its worth mention as 'saving the digging' in a 3' x 20' area can be appealing. Pack the dirt at the bottom as tight as you are able as well, leaving just the top foot (max) as good usable soil. This will allow it to spread along that surface easily without tempting it downward.

    When filling the trench, be careful still, as, although it feels impermeable, the barrier can be pierced relatively easily, and once you've figured out what has happened, the problem is already big.... really big.

    With regard to qty of plants, with Black Bamboo, what you plant is essentially what you will have for the first couple of years. It will establish, and you'll get a few new stalks in the first and second year, so plant enough that it does the job you can be happy with for 2-3 years. After that, one day in late May (say, 2012) you will go out and find that there are a bunch of new, bigger stalks than you've had before, and they've just sort of 'appeared'. You will recognize a few more every few days for a couple of weeks, and you'll be amazed and overjoyed as it really begins to fill in.

    This will be the case for a couple of years, but then you'll have the same 'amazement and overwhelming joy' a couple uf Junes later when you find that the 'new June crop' is about twice as thick in the stalk as the previous years... now you're really growing Bamboo... and its really, really cool. Your stalks will go from 3/8" - 1/2" diameter to 1" or more at this point. The stalks you thought would never be able to stand up will suddenly have created their own support, and you can tie them together loosely and they will stand tall and strong.

    In MA, though, you'll find yourself out all winter knocking the snow off of them so they will stand up without being crushed under the weight of the snow. -

    Do it in pajamas and flip flops... its invigorating.....

  • tomtbone
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Does anyone have the Phyllostachys aureosulcata (Yellow Groove Bamboo) in Zone 6? Just wondering if it will grow taller than the spectabilis or just about the same?

  • kudzu9
    14 years ago

    However many you get, plant them so that you leave some space on the ends...maybe 1/2 the space that you leave between the plants. For example, if you put 4 plants in a twenty foot space, you would leave about a 2-1/2' space on each end, and 5' between the plants themselves [2-1/2' + 5' + 5' + 5' + 2-1/2' = 20'].

  • tomtbone
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    awesome thanks. I am leaning toward the yellow groove, I'm gonna do a little digging to make sure I'm up for it. ;)

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