Albaby,

Know that all of the following are facts.....don't worry about the horror stories those are about running bamboo ONLY. Just get a clumper and it will stay right where you put it. The culms (the upright stems) of the bamboo will pop up within inches of last years culms and if you don't want the culm that comes up just step on it and it and that new culm is done, dead. You WILL NOT get culms popping up out of the ground feet from the main plant, just does not work like that. In clumping bamboo this years culm develops a kind of horn on it and that horn will grow to become the next years culm..it is physically attached to the previous years culm underground so you can see there is no rapid growth. Running bamboos on the other hand put out a long underground runner the same way some grasses do (bamboo is a grass after all) and all along that many foot long runner bamboo culms will pop up. Runners and clumpers are just very very different. You have 100% control of a clumping bamboo and you can keep it to as few culms as you want to. You can keep a clumper to 3 culms or 30 or any number you pick with no effort at all. Bamboo is one of the few plants that actually grows bigger if it is in shade.

Far as varieties...Look up Blue Chungii it is GORGEOUS. Some call it tropical blue. It is a well behaved clumper that grows to 30 feet I guess and about 3 inch culms. Another good one would be dendrocalamus minor amoneous and most call it ghost bamboo or angel mist. About 25 feet tall and a bit smaller culms. I wish you were closer as I have a clump of each I would like to have removed....I am just a bit too cold for it.

2. I have no idea of good growers in Miami. You can always tell if you are getting Blue Chungii as it is blue.

This post was edited by bamboo_rabbit on Mon, Dec 10, 12 at 17:10

Thanks, Rabbit. You've helped put my mind at ease, a bit.

I looked up both of those species of bamboo - the blue looks lovely, but I fear that a 30' high stand with three-inch culms will overwhelm our rock garden. Do you have any suggestions for a clumping stand that might be a little more modest in size?

I'll call around to local nurseries to see who specializes in bamboo - but worse comes to worse, I've found a few mail-order places on the web.

Alan

Albaby,

So you want bigger culm size yet a shorter bamboo? Not sure that critter exists. You can cut off the bamboo culm at any height you want and it will never grow any taller but I don't like the look unless it is being used as a hedge.

BR,

Actually the opposite - I'd love smaller culm as well a shorter height, but still not a runner - if possible. Not hedge height, but something that comes closer to 15-20' than 35'. I fear that the very tall stand would look somewhat out of scale in this part of the yard.

Alan

Alan,

I see, my apologies I misunderstood. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is multiplex Golden goddess but I think it wants more sun. Go to the link and simply type in the height you put the the sun exposure at 3 and check clumper and explore the different types. Some will be quite hard to find but the best ones are the easiest to find. The shade is going to be a limiting factor but even really heavy shade will just slow the bamboo down it should still grow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo

This post was edited by bamboo_rabbit on Tue, Dec 11, 12 at 12:18

I have dwarf textilas which fits what you described. Also Alphonse Karr in the shade won't get to big.

Hey Bamboo, since you're here... sort of... I have a 10-15x30 foot area of my yard that is nice and open. I am fairly limited on what I can plant in this area because there are underground power lines and utility lines going through this area. I have already resigned myself to being able to do little more than put in some raised flower beds in this area. But the bamboo has me curious. How deep do they tend to go? Do you think the utility lines would be safe from the spreading culms?

Leekle,

Bamboo has an extensive root system but it is pretty shallow..it is a grass, a big grass but just a grass so grows the same way. Back in the old days when people used clay pipe tiles for sewer systems you did not want to plant anything with deep roots near them as the roots would get in to and block the flow. Those days are long gone. Water lines and electrical cables are meant to withstand anything natural. My electrical line runs down and past 100 foot tall hickories and 100 year old live oaks. Code dictates your electrical lines be 3' deep. Would I plant what will become a large tree on top of the line no probably not but I have just laid out a 160 foot hedge of figs that will run almost directly down the path of the buried power line. Honestly for anything other than large trees I would just forget the lines are there.

Yeah. And according to my electric company, no 'trees' should be planted within 10 feet of the power line. Since bamboo is a 'grass', I could sort of skirt this on a technicallity. The power line is at least more than greater than 12" deep as I dug down that deep 'before' I had my land surveyed and found I had dug over the line. The other utility lines are cable and phone and while I don't know about the main lines, the phone run that goes to my house is only 4" down and doesn't seem to go deeper as it gets near the main run. Water and sewer are safely away from this area. I was more worried about the culms, as they spread, unearthing the utilities.

Leekle,

You don't need a technicality...this is not an easement it is the run going from their mains to your home correct? It is YOUR property you can do what you wish. They can suggest they can say should all they want to it is your land. Like I said I would not plant what would become a large tree on top of the buried line but anything else go right ahead.

Thanks, BR. I've been having a little fun playing with that web site over the last few days - I really had no idea there were so many different species out there!

As you suspected, there doesn't appear to be a species locally available that *completely* suits our dream list (say, around a 1-2 inch culm and about 20' in height) - so we'll have to find something that is close enough.

The real limiting factor seems to be shade. The area we're looking at is fairly well shaded throughout the day, and completely shaded in the afternoon. Many of the species we looked at call for full sun in that database. Are they more tolerant of low-light conditions than the database suggests, or do we really need to avoid full-sun species?

Alan

Albaby,

There is a grower in Tampa by the name of Roy Rogers, yes lol that is really his name:) He sells quite a few plants and is located on a double lot in the city. His yard is almost complete shade and he grows some of the nicest bamboo. I believe any bamboo will do just fine in moderate shade but the bamboo may get a bit taller than it is supposed to. I would not let sun or shade be the deciding factor on what bamboo I planted.

I got my dwarf textillas from Roy. In the shade it will just leaf out way higher up. He has some growing in a shady spot. It gets to be about 20 feet tall and the culms will be about an inch.