Hi everyone,

I've always loved bamboo and I recently made my first purchase with a ~10 ft black bamboo (phyllostachys nigra). I want to use the plant as a narrow screen for a window on the side of my house.

In retrospect, I feel I should have started with a clumping bamboo, but I couldn't resist the magnificence of this plant, and so here I am now. The person at the nursery warned me NOT to put it in the ground without first taking proper containment measures. He advised that I get a galvanized steel trough (the kind that is used to feed animals, see picture below) to contain the rhizomes.

http://urbangraceinteriors.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ef51a88883300e55289f0478833-500pi

The plan is to fill the 2x2x4-foot 35-gallon trough with potting soil and fertilizer and let the stand-alone plant grow inside the steel island. The steel trough would be placed on the ground without digging a hole. My understanding is that rhizomes grow horizontally, and sometimes "dolphin" over barriers. However, because the steel trough wall is 24"above aground, there should be no risk of the rhizomes getting out, over and down to the ground, right? Their only chance is to build up enough lateral pressure to break the steel bin (is this unlikely?) and find a way DOWN to the ground. Does this logic seem reasonable?

Also, is 24" deep enough for the bamboo? The trough is sealed on the bottom as well. I read that the roots will go only about 15" into the ground, so there shouldn't be a risk that they will grow down and go through steel... right?

I'm very wary, but before I proceed, I'd like to get some feedback. Thanks!