How do I keep this rather exotic monster (for Ohio) under control, while still getting it to send up stalks 10 feet up? I'm assuming that it will survive the winter, but are there any concerns about plant placement? Can one dig it up in teh Spring and trim the rhizomes to control it, or are the roots raher sensitive? When does it start to grow in the spring, early or late?

when i transplanted the rhizome pieces that i dug up, the current grass stalks all very quickly turned brown in less than a week, but i've already got one new eye that has sprouted up and i should think i will get a few more... i think i would have to try to kill the roots to stop this monsterweed. don't know about winter thou.

I read that people have it in Penn. and Michigan, as well as Ohio... but actually gardening info for it in the north is hard to find

I bought my Donax the beginning of May. The tallest stalk was probably about a foot tall and since then it's over my head by a few inches (so maybe close to six feet) :) It's keeping pace with the tallest of my neighbor's horseweeds (she doesn't mow much and last year her horseweeds were probably at least ten feet). I'm crossing my fingers that the Donax keeps up with them... it's turning into a race. ;)

This year it was warmer earlier, and the arundo had a head-start over last year, so I expect it to get bigger. I photograph the gardens when I think of it, and have managed to get a reasonable record of the plants's growth over the years, and thru the season. This year we are definately ahead of previous years!

Don't neglect to fertilize, lkz51a!

here is my widest clump - I have another clump by my house that gets up to 16-22 feet tall but not this year either.

this is probably around 12' high - the rock is around 4.5' tall and you can see a barbie doll on the rock for scale

if you use fert on your lawn just use that - a good dose in spring and they will really take off - i usually hit it when i can see the first sign of a shoot. but this year i didn't give it any.

any type of manure mulch in spring will make it grow and spread fast if thats what you are looking for

The side shoots came out, but the whole plant has pretty much stopped growing now. The new culms have not grown. What HAS changed is the roots. The roots have bulked up, and some have crammed themselves between culms, pushing them off in screwy angles. Including the flowering part on the top, mine have topped out at just over 15 feet high this year. Should I mulch?

Planted it in early July and the plant sent up a taller culm every few weeks. Got two that flowered, the tallest is close to 11' high, second 9', then a 8', 7', 6'. each one sent up got taller.

When i got the two flower heads, the plant stopped sending anything up, then the side shoots broke thru.

I wonder what would happen to the side shoots in a warmer climate?

Here are comparison photos from 2002 to this year. My boy is standing next to the same plant in both photos.

In another question, I need an idea for what to do with all the cane! I can only use so many walking sticks...

Here's an example, a simple frame supporting a 9' Maximillian Sunflower:

So one of the cuttings has rooted so far. I've potted it up and will keep the thread updated if it lives or does anything. I forgot to take a pic of it before it was potted up. If new above ground growth occurs, I'll post a pic.

Mang-- I think they mentioned in one of the posts above that the shoots usually come out about six inches apart at the furthest and that seems to be about right. I'm not too crazy to fertilize it though... think it might get a little too large for where I'd like to keep it!!

Planted last year, moved in mid April after they came up.

Ian, how tall is the yellowgroove this year?

Ok, so my 'watercorn' arundo donax has struggled this spring. Deer invaded the woods and gave birth to their children, so they stayed around awhile. Deer love playing with arundo donax. The big juicy shoots just are asking to be chomped up. Sometimes I would even see that they would chew the stem in half then drop the top portion on the ground. Ah, what a waste. Some shoots finally went above the browsing level. I took this picture today and measured tallest shoot to the the leaf tip: 9'5''

for some reason this pic refuses to rotate vertically, must be too large to start with

on the left upper corner you can see AD reeds used as supports in a very small vineyard

AD and olive groves

the green in the background is a golf club

I love the shape of the clumps in your first picture!
A.

Yes you're right, the stems are much stronger and large (both in diameter and height) in plants that can grow for longer than one season, but they never become as large as the bamboo stems can do.

ciao A.!

Mine peaks out at around 15 - 20'. I don't fertilize it...don't even water it unless it's incredibly dry. A friend harvests it and threads the stalks through cyclone fencing for privacy around his farm house. I'm certain there are many uses for it but I don't think it will ever be an effective substitute for bamboo.

I hate to be a fun killer, but I just had to make a public service announcement here. I saw this page on google while looking for pictures of this plant. Unfortunately, this is a horrible, horrible weed in California, where it is invading crees and rivers. It crowds out native species and it grows so densely in rivers that it aggrivates floods and fires. During the floods of 2005 this plant was responsible for several bridges being destroyed in San Diego County. It was also a large reason that some of the wildfires of 2003 were so severe. Creekside areas usually stop the spread of fires but when this plant gets in there and dies, it makes the creeks burn like a fuse. Also, it grows so voraciously that it can actually dry up creeks in the summer. The effect is similar to Tamarisk which causes similar problems in the Desert Southwest. Millions of dollars a year are spent trying to get rid of this plant and millions of dollars more in damages are caused by it annually. One of the main elements of restoration jobs i work on for a living involve removing this plant

So, if you live in western North America, especially in mild-winter areas, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not plant this. It is horrible - far worse than Kudzu in the Southeast. I don't really recommend it in the eastern US either. If you live in Italy, where it has natural predators and is a part of the ecosystem, this is another story.

In fact, it was neat seeing pictures of the plant in its natural habitat. Its growth form is a bit different, which is not surprising because most of the California plants are believed to be part of a single clone.

for more info please see this page

Happy gardening!

I'd like to add, for those who might jump to conclusions, that Arundo donax is a sterile or near sterile grass. It spreads by rhizomes, especially in wetland areas.

Its invasive nature is location dependant, like most cases of invasive plants. While in certain areas it causes serious problems, it can be a very useful grass in other areas, both commercially and for ornamental value.

Dug up the arundo and it will be sited by the house, where it will receive extra rain water from the gutters. Here is a pic of the dug up arundo sitting in a 25 gallon pot, waiting to get planted.