where in nj are you? IMHO:i don't think P.nuda will make it there or if it does it may die back each year and be small..forget what you see grow in GA.im growing nuda but its iffy here and im alot warmer than you..fargesia(clumping)will do good where u are..but even many Phyllostachys's even thou somewhat cold hardy may be small..when i was in mass i never seen big(dia) or tall bamboo...its a tough call..but i don;t have all the needed facts

I haven't been to GA since my kids started high school. And that's more than 10 years ago.(you old man, sigh!!!) From what you described it sound like they are yellow groove(Phyllostachys aureosulcata). They are green with a yellow groove running length wise alternating from node to node. Here is link showing the bamboo.
http://www.bamboogarden.com/Phyllostachys%
20aureosulcata.html

If you are interested in this specie you can dig some from this guy Carl's house. Its free. Email him and ask for permission and directions CTKNUD@aol.com. He lives in Pennington, NJ near Princeton.

hi again!

Pictures are worth a thousand words:

pic 1: is this yellow groove?
pic 2: close up of pic 1
pic 3: upward shot -> yellow groove?
pic 4: still yellow groove?

---

pic 5: different grove, greener..some wavy culms - what is this?
pic 6: upward shot of pic 5, you can see the bamboo support..at least a corner of it.
pic 7: side shot of pic 5, more support visible.

sorry the pics are dark, as I said ..you have to see it in person, pics just don't do it justice..

mtnbamboogirl: I'm in Paramus, NJ. (Bergen County)

Hwlee: Nice pic, I'm positive GA boo is not this variety of yellow groove. but free..I like free! That variety is nice.

Thanks!

birdbah_nj: I'm right over the NJ/NY border in Chestnut Ridge, NY. If you end up going down to that grove in Princeton, let me know..I'd be interested, too. Vice versa, if I contact him, too.

There's a grove of golden bamboo alongside Route 303 in Congers, NY: much more dense grove, and thinner canes than your pics. I have been meaning to contact the owners of the property. They must have planted along the house side of their fence (busy road) and the bamboo has grow outside of the fence along hte road. Will post with my findings...

Ken

I don't think it's Yellow Groove (Ph. Aureosulcata). Yellow groove is green with a yellow sulcus, and the green turns to tan if it gets a lot of sun. The zigzags of the culms in your pictures have the form of Yellow Groove, so between that and the golden color I think it's Ph. aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis.'

As for the other bamboo, could be several varieties, but there's not enough detail for me to pontificate...

In Upper Montclair, N.J. there is a very old grove of Nuda that is 25+ feet tall with well over 1 1/2 inch culms.Don't be put off on that. Paramus and Upper Montclair are in close proximity.
I think the mountains in Tn are alot harder winters than in the city of Upper Montclair. Just my thoughts though....

Nuda will work for you. YG would also. Bisettii as well I'm in stillwater NJ. Paramus is definitely warmer by you than me. I'm not sure but i'd speak with koniferkid a bit...he seems to have everything growing and he's a few minutes from you...as the crow flies anyway....I think it's best to converse with some people that are local to you. Z6 in Tenn. mountains, i am willing to bet, is way different than by the Mall in Paramus lol. I'm also willing to bet that you can push some plants by you...zone wise....Nigras might even stay over the winter for you.

Kurt

Hi again,

More questions! I realize that there are many different forms of Yellow Groove. After looking up images of kudzu's identification, it's very probable the one in GA is this 'Aureocaulis' variety (Golden Crookstem) of Yellow Groove. It's also possible the other variety in the pictures is 'Alata'. It's greener, with the same zigzags. I didn't notice any actual yellow grooves in the second grove, just a greenish color to it. I've looked at a few more variety images, and I still do like the original Yellow Groove, this GA Aerocaulis, and the Spectibilis especially! I'd still have to see P. Nuda in person.

What I'm trying to achieve is a grove of bamboo in a line form, maybe 2 ½ - 3 feet wide by 75.5 ft long. There will be breaks, so it wont be a perfect straight line. Im leaning towards rhizome pruning, since digging a full barrier trench would hurt the roots of some existing landscape that are somewhat within the bed line; a white pine (large, mature), thin spruce (almost as tall as the white pine), dogwood (12 ft tall), and a couple of rhodas (Ill probably hack these out and move them). I rather berm up the grove line about a foot taller then ground level, and rhizome prune it. Im hoping the berm would give me the an extra foot depth, so rhizome pruning down another 8-10 inches around the berm wont cut into any existing tree roots.. I will run the line/berm right up to the existing tree (trunk), and then continue on the other side of the tree would this be ok for the bamboo, and the tree? I want the bamboo and the trees to coexist.

Instant results are not necessary, so very young bamboo is just fine. The bamboo I want to grow would have to be a minimum of 15-20 ft when mature, stay evergreen, and not die back in the winter. It is for screening purposes, but it's not necessarily screening something I don't want to see. So I'd prefer the grove to be a semi-screen? To clarify, I dont want total 100% top to bottom blackout, but maybe 40% translucent, so if you really tried hard to look through to culms, you could see the other side. If you were to stand behind the grove at GA I would be able to see you through the culms, the bottom 7-9 ft were not as dense as the leafy top (you can see this in the pictures). I want the grove to stand as straight as possible. I don't like the floppy look of fargesias, I wouldn't want it to flower - go to seed, and then disappear on me! For the look I want, with a fargesia, it would just be too extensive to maintain it that size of grove. Sorry mtnbamboogirl!
I know you can probably achieve this look by constantly thinning any grove, but if there is a variety that grows like this by nature, I'd prefer it. (straight, semi-bare on the bottom 6-7 ft, leaves like yellow groove, classic bamboo look & feel) If I were to maintain a grove that is 2 ½ -3 ft wide, no matter what I choose, the appearance would probably be a semi-transparent, since its so thinis this true?

I believe I would need to plant a division every 4-5 ft. So 16-19 divisions! Ken, that's a lot of digging for me! I'm just not ready to start the grove yet, or to bust my back..but I'd be game in the future. I'm sure it will still be there, it isn't that easy to eradicate ;) For this very reason, I want to see and make sure I like the appearance of the grove I choose to grow. It's going to be in my backyard for a while. Does anyone know exactly what variety of Yellow Groove is at the Princeton site?

How about a P. Bissetti? Not? Most images I see of this the bamboo is leaning over to one side or the other.

And finally, since I cant decide.. Would it look silly if I was to plant different varieties in the line? Alternate all different types of Yellow Groove, and mixing in some P. Nuda (maybe every other division?). Remember, its going to be a thin line (3 ft max), so as your eye scanned the backyard form left to right you may notice all the different patches, and a few conifers interrupting the line. Some varieties may be slightly taller then others, or a different shade. Is this going to be ugly? Should I stick with one variety in a line?

Kurt: I agree with you, I think these varieties will not die back. I got worried for a second. Maybe I can get some of that Z8+ stuff and get a rain forest going here? .. Mall Micro Climate.. Am I ever gonna shake the mall busting? j/k Im in a residential neighborhood, no mall or highway to be seen, but I could be there in 5 minutes ;)

Koniferkid: Ive read posts about your 1000 different types of conifers. Should I be scared? I hope youre not into guns too Protecting the conifers at all costs!

Comments?

Thanks again!

Well....I'd try a nigra. I'm willing to bet it would survive. Not get too big because we are in z 6 but if you prune the lower branches, you would get to see some nice black culms. I do have two growing outside. they both died back completely but this was the first year in the ground. I am hoping for better success this year. It's a wait and see thing for me. I don't know how immediate you need the screen or if you wanted to experiment first. I prefer to try a few diff varieties and see how they fair. Hoosier has some pics in the gallery of some vivax growing. he is in z5....he prunes them. Keep asking questions. there is a weatlth of info in here.

Without looking at your GA pics, I'm guessing that the reason there are no low branches is because it is a mature grove. When most any species of Phyllostachys matures and establishes a grove, the intense shade created on the interior of the grove causes the bamboo to stop producing low branches - even on the outer edge of the grove. They can not really be effective in photosynthesis as the leaves are too shaded, so the grove stops producing low branches. That is why the grove usually will not have the lower branches, it is not generally species specific although some species are naturally more sparse at the bottom.

In a narrow row as you suggest, I believe that enough light would always be there and the culms would continue to produce low branches, so you'll have to pru*ne them yourself.

As to species, my concern with Nigra is that it has a tendency to lean when young (most Phyllostachys do so for the first couple of years as well but Nigra really does lean until well established)and you are looking for something upright, plus it's marginal hardiness would make it a less reliable screen from year to year.

Without question you can grow Nuda but it tends to windburn at higher temps than Bissetii, Rubro, the Aureosulcata cultivars and a few other species. Bissetii is very upright and probably the hardiness champ but it is more densly foliated and will require more pruni*ng as I suspect a well grown S Fastuosa would. Decide on what your priorities are: culm color or culm diameter. If green is OK then consider Atrovaginata (will have large diameter culms), Nuda, Rubro (intense spreader & culm producer but with it's very long internodes the branches are farther apart) or Yellow Groove. If you prefer color, go with the A Aureocaulis or the A Spectabilis.

Birdbah: I protect my plants with praying mantis, parasitic wasps and ladybugs. No guns needed. They were needed only during my military career. Now, I am armed with a high powered hose to knock the aphids off the plants...LOL...

Well there you go....I suggested Nigra because of its black culms...but Hoosier has very valid comments about it...Things that i don't know because of my inexperience...For me, I tend to buy a small plant, see how it grows, look at its characteristics then plant where i want it in my yard(if it survives lol). I have a little bit of about 10 diff sp. My budget also keeps me in check. Some of my sp. are pushing the edge of hardiness. this year i got a few more hardy sp. because i felt "i know they will work for me" Henon, nigra, Madake, aurea, Y anceps, Arrow, I. tessalus all came back with new shoots but the existing culms all died back(all new last year). So there is much for me to learn.....I am taking another chance with a Dulcis this year.....I know my YG and bisettii will make it. BTW forgive my spelling....I know what i have but i don't have all the names exactly right...lol....A bit embarrassing...

Kurt

You should go to the Van Saun Park zoo in Paramus. They have very nice Bamboo groves there. There is also Bamboo growing in Herrick Park in Teaneck.

I am in the Teaneck area and have had luck establish a grove(s) with the following:

Phyllostachys nigra
Phyllostachys aureum
P. nidularia
P. vivax (yellow culms)
P. viridis (yellow culms)
Pseudosasa japonica
Sasa palmata