Bamboo

[plocket]

Will my phylostachys nigra suffer if I move it into a spot that doesn't get any sun?

[The witch]

Possibly www.crocus.co.uk/search/pl/?ContentType=Plant_Card&ClassID=1601&CategoryID=

[plocket]

Thanks for the blurb The witch but I was really wondering whether someone had actual experience. Although they can cope with partial shade the spot I'm thinking of is awkward - while it's not actually in shade, ie sheltered or under a tree, it's an area that doesn't actually get any direct sunlight. I really don't know whether to risk moving it or not - although I have got another one in the ground.

[The witch]

I tried growing a bamboo here when we first moved in, but it wasn't happy at all, it was in a windy but very sunny part of my garden - I gave the plant to my daughter in the end. It thrived in her more sheltered garden.

[plocket]

Mmm. Our garden is fairly sheltered and I've had my two for a few years now so I'm not worried about that. I've decided that it would look quite nice next to the compost bin - sort of hiding it, which would mean moving my HF Young - swapping them around. The bamboo doesn't get much sun at the moment anyway - just evening sun at the moment but more in the summer. Oh I don't know whether to move it or not!!!

[debbiem]

In nature they are thicket forming aren't they? So the whole thicket can't all get the sun.....the RHS Encyclopaedia says full sun/dappled shade and shelter from cold,drying winds. We have two green bamboo in pots in a fairly sheltered part of the garden with some but certainly not constant sunshine and they are thriving. Sounds like the spot you are thinking of would be fine Plocket.

[plocket]

Thanks MrsB! I think I'll swap the pots around when it's a bit dryer outside!

[bogmyrtle]

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would add to this one - hope you don't mind!

How's your bamboo Plocket?

In B&Q on Sunday they had a black bamboo for £49.00, it was taller than me (but that isn't hard!), probably 5 - 5 1/2 feet, and had black stems (usually the ones I have seen have been young plants and therefore not black). I was very tempted but have to wait until pay-day, and I wouldn't have got it into the car.

It said it was clump forming, and have noted on the Crocus site that it says restrict roots. Anything else I should now before I take the plunge or change my mind? I have a spot in mind for it ;D

Thank you.

[Sleepy]

bogmyrtle said:

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would add to this one - hope you don't mind!

How's your bamboo Plocket?

In B&Q on Sunday they had a black bamboo for £49.00, it was taller than me (but that isn't hard!), probably 5 - 5 1/2 feet, and had black stems (usually the ones I have seen have been young plants and therefore not black). I was very tempted but have to wait until pay-day, and I wouldn't have got it into the car.

It said it was clump forming, and have noted on the Crocus site that it says restrict roots. Anything else I should now before I take the plunge or change my mind? I have a spot in mind for it ;D

Thank you.

I have always been wary of bamboo as I believe it has a reputation for being invasive - especially one that says 'restrict the roots'!!!

[bogmyrtle]

admin said:

bogmyrtle said:

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would add to this one - hope you don't mind!

How's your bamboo Plocket?

In B&Q on Sunday they had a black bamboo for £49.00, it was taller than me (but that isn't hard!), probably 5 - 5 1/2 feet, and had black stems (usually the ones I have seen have been young plants and therefore not black). I was very tempted but have to wait until pay-day, and I wouldn't have got it into the car.

It said it was clump forming, and have noted on the Crocus site that it says restrict roots. Anything else I should now before I take the plunge or change my mind? I have a spot in mind for it ;D

Thank you.

I have always been wary of bamboo as I believe it has a reputation for being invasive - especially one that says 'restrict the roots'!!!

I know, it's one of those plants that I really would like but don't want to regret it afterwards! Mind you with a bit of luck it would invade the garden at the side of us so their boys can't play football against our fence!

Perhaps a large pot would be better - the cost is going up!

[debbiem]

I wouldn't recommend putting it in a large pot - it will get top heavy very quickly and over it'll go when it's windy, and again, and again...... And then when you do plant it out it'll be a two man job.
We have two green bamboos which are quite tall and bushy now, but I wouldn't say that they spread overly quickly. They started off in large pots but after having several injuries amongst the other plants that they caught on their way down(the wind) we planted them out. They're lovely, but then again maybe it's our soil which makes them not too rampant. But then again maybe not, as healthy they certainly are.

If you see a nice one go on, get it Myrtle. I wouldn't restrict it either - just see how it grows first.


I can't WAIT to get the hang of my camera and post some pics, but the manual's not a five minute job.

[bogmyrtle]

debbiem said:

I wouldn't recommend putting it in a large pot - it will get top heavy very quickly and over it'll go when it's windy, and again, and again...... And then when you do plant it out it'll be a two man job.
We have two green bamboos which are quite tall and bushy now, but I wouldn't say that they spread overly quickly. They started off in large pots but after having several injuries amongst the other plants that they caught on their way down(the wind) we planted them out. They're lovely, but then again maybe it's our soil which makes them not too rampant. But then again maybe not, as healthy they certainly are.

If you see a nice one go on, get it Myrtle. I wouldn't restrict it either - just see how it grows first.


I can't WAIT to get the hang of my camera and post some pics, but the manual's not a five minute job.

Thanks Mrs.Beige, there is a specialist garden centre near, I may go there and do some more homework first, but then again it did look good!

I have taken pics of our garden to put on here but the drive on the computer for the memory card has disappeared waiting for hubby to sort it out. Men don't read manual's do they? Or is that just mine?

[debbiem]

Mine usually does the opposite, feverishly dashes to the manual and reads it to learn it all first so then he is the expert. A while back after he'd read them the manuals used to mysteriously disappear so we then had to always ask him how to work this or that and rely upon his 'expertise'. He always denied that he'd hidden the manuals but I'm not so sure..... :

[debbiem]

I've just read a reader's letter in Amateur Gardening magazine Myrtle, an issue a couple of months old. The reader has a Phyllostachys Nigra which is marching precariously near to her pond and she's worried that if it encroaches any further it'll pierce the lining! So that's something to bear in mind when you plant it, too.
The answer was a few years dosing with glyphosate, a bit of a problem in itself if it's so near a pond, but eventally this would kill the unwanted growth so if you do get one that's going to spread like that, maybe it should be contained then, or be planted nowhere near anything else!

[madonplants]

You could always try surrounding the bamboo with one of those specially designed bamboo barriers, though you have to dig down quite deep.

Keith

[4pygmies]

I have often yearned for a nice big clump of bamboo in the garden somewhere but have always decided against it as I thought it might look a bit out of place in my wildlife garden. It's tempting to be able to grow your own canes though isn't it? That might be how I convince myself it's OK ;D
Coincidentally I found these two nurseries, both of which are fairly close to me, recently on the net. I might have a visit some time even though the prices shocked me! (I am so mean though..):

www.hardybamboo.com/visit/

www.urbanjungle.uk.com/index.asp

They might be useful to compare prices and the size of plants anyway.

[debbiem]

B & Q have huge ones £28 or £29- something, the green type and these are the ones we have in our garden. I think they mix in with the other plants really well and are a lovely bright shade of green too. I think they'll eventually march into and around the other plants making everything look really natural.

[bogmyrtle]

debbiem said:

B & Q have huge ones £28 or £29- something, the green type and these are the ones we have in our garden. I think they mix in with the other plants really well and are a lovely bright shade of green too. I think they'll eventually march into and around the other plants making everything look really natural.

The B&Q ones look great, it's one of those plants that I've wanted for years but haven't taken the plunge! Like 4pygmies says, useful to grow your own canes (that's why hubby would like the black one - needs some to replace a decoration on a parang sheath he has just bought!)

[debbiem]

The said:

It can be invasive though - can't it?

Does it only live for 7 years or so then die - or am I thinking of some other plant?

I've read somewhere that if it's allowed to flower it will, or could, die, but I don't know about life spans. The Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Garden near us has huge walks full of huge clumps of it which I think must have been there for some years and I would imagine they are older than that - it puts us in stuck if it suddenly keels over though as we're relying on ours getting denser and denser as part of our privacy campaign!

[madonplants]

The said:

It can be invasive though - can't it?

Does it only live for 7 years or so then die - or am I thinking of some other plant?

They can do, but read this. It might make things clearer or confuse even more. I did here about bamboos flowering and maybe about to die on a gardening programme, was it GW?

Keith

[debbiem]

I think I read about it in the Amateur Gardening Mag Keith.

[debbiem]

Brilliant article Keith, just read it.

[debidoos]

The one in our back garden is ancient! It's massive!!! You'd expect to see panda's sitting in it ;D.It's the gigantia one I think, the leave's are about 9" long.

we have 2 others in pots too. if you transplant them or pot them on they tend to sulk for a bit the leaves roll up, but they soon settle. be careful on the size of the dranage holes, if they can send out a runner they will!!! the one in a big planter by the pond started growing outside the pot! We had to cut it out of the pot to plant on, as it had rooted to the ground!

I hack a bit off the gigantia one from time to time, as it is about 12' tall and I have some free canes, and the tops I use for pea sticks!

[debbiem]

They sound WONDERFUL Debbie! AND the slugs and snails don't bother with them either.

[debidoos]

I'll try and get some pics latter as they really are collosal!