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Hello, I have what is becoming a “wall” of bamboo that separates part of our garden.
I want to encourage it to grow and thicken rather than look like some bamboo plants stuffed next to each other.
Mrs RRR wants me to tidy up the ground around it - would slate chippings prevent the bamboo shoots growing up or would they fight their way through? Likewise wot about bark chippings?
Ta
Bamboozled (ha) of Derbyshire
In my experience they will push through pretty much anything...wood-chips, weed-proof membrane, etc.
They only thing that worked in stopping them spreading was chickens. They loved eating the new shoots!
Bamboo will come through slabs and tarmac if it’s desperate.
Not a plant id have in my garden. Weed.
would slate chippings prevent the bamboo shoots growing up or would they fight their way through? Likewise wot about bark chippings?
'fight' isn't the right word - they'd pop up without so much as noticing that you'd put anything on the ground.
You need to put a thick membrane into the ground around the area where you want to contain the bamboo and leave it a few cm above ground level, the idea being that the runners will hit that and then be diverted over it so you can see them on the surface and cut them there.
Also depends what sort of bamboo you have - some are more clump forming than others, and at the extreme end there are the super spreaders who will pop up a shoot in next door's shed for fun.
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Awaits future post of 'bamboo has taken over my garden, how do I get rid of it?'.
If you find something that suppresses it, patent it and make your fortune.
I'd be tempted to dig it up, plant it in some substantial containers (old watertanks are good) and then it will fill out within the boundaries of the tanks/where you want it, instead of inevitably in some other direction where you don't.
Bamboo will come through slabs and tarmac
Yep, it is incredible stuff. No sort of membrane is going to have any effect on it whatsoever but as said above it does depend on what type of bamboo you have as some spreads and send out runners while other types clump.
If you have a variety that runs then not a chance of controlling it.
Can't believe no one has suggested getting a panda to keep it under control....
Thanks 😃
So, I’ve actually had it in the ground for about a year. It was “free” to collect on marketplace, I dug a massive trench and used wood and bricks to tame it.
I believe it’s the clumping type. Only problem is that it was from a plant that was 20 foot heigh so I have lots of very thick stems that have been chopped off (to fit in the car) which look a bit pants, hence wanting the new shoots to grow through.
We got a patch of bamboo ‘free’ from our neighbours garden-it’s pushed through a brick wall and established itself in a corner behind the shed.
When I replaced the shed last year I dug as much of it out as possible, repointed the wall, dug out and whacker plated an extra 150mm patch of type one into that bit below the ‘slab’ the shed was to sit on.
10 months later and it’s pushed back though all of that, the membrane below the shed and is once again pretty well established. Hate the flipping stuff.
Grow it in a tub or dig it out. The last owners left an infestation and I hate it. To kill shoots you must cut off and rapidly apply neat stump killer. It's drawn down the shoots after you've cut them. It's the job of Sisyphus.
We also have a lovely hedge of non-spreading dwarf bamboo that has been fine. Just avoid the fast growing stuff, and wow does it grow. Pandas eat thier own bodyweight of bamboo every two weeks.
And forget membranes... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_torture
I dug out some bamboo from previous occupants about ten years ago. laid a concrete slab on for a shed where it had been.
still get occasional shoots coming up the side of the slab.
You've actually willingly planted bamboo in your garden?
We have a garden that the previous owners allowed to get infested with some manner of dwarf bamboo. It grows like nothing else and cannot really be eliminated. The interlocking roots are hellish to pull out and the canes when cut are like leaving pencils sticking up.
Honestly rip it out while there's time, set the whole place on fire to be sure and then salt the earth.
No no no no don't do it don't do it kill it with fire right now!
I have just spend thousands on paying someone to come with a digger and excavate it all out from our garden.
I am left with a crater and moonscape and significantly poorer but happy it's all gone.
It takes over the garden, goes under driveways, patios, anything. If you have rain and sun in quick succession you can almost see it grow. All I needed was a couple of American pilots to stake out over it and I'd have been having Nam flashbacks*.
Honestly rip it out while there’s time, set the whole place on fire to be sure and then salt the earth.
Cannot endorse this advice strongly enough.
* I was not in Nam.
Comments are correct about it coming up with bark chips. I would disagree about it being a weed....in the right place and looked after correctly it looks awesome. It depends on type, whether it’s clumping or running as to how rigorous it will be. Even if it is running it can simply be managed by cutting new culms which then won’t grow back. You can also get special membrane it can’t grow through.
Not one for lazy gardeners mind....which might explain all the negative comments.
Spent all last weekend digging out some bamboo. Had to pop to screwfix to pick up a mattock to do the job properly. Hopefully I got rid of all of it...
Perfect for growing around flagpoles...
There are ‘clump forming’ varieties but I’d be reluctant to plant even these without a proper membrane barrier as per RHS guidance. I’ve a massive Black bamboo which is a running variety of bamboo but I planted it in a 1.3m diameter liner within a raised stone bed against a 10’ north facing stone wall so it’s sort of not ideal growing conditions which helps stop it going feral. It’s been there for about 8 years and hasn’t escaped yet. Looking great as it’s getting it’s new leaves at present. I chop off any runners and only spare really large shoots not the little ones which pop up. I actually noticed yesterday my neighbour has a bamboo now coming up behind my garage and above the roof line. I doubt he’s put it within a barrier. Worrying.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=79
We have some bamboo screening, it works very well and fun looking at old estate agent photos it doesn't seem to have grown much since it was planted about 10 years ago.......
Excluding a solitary new shoot that we noticed 16 days ago, made a comment about how it is the first new shoot that we have seen, as of an hour ago, it is now over 2.2m tall and stands 50cm proud of the rest of the bamboo. Genuinely amazed with how quickly it is growing.
It was “free” to collect on marketplace,
Not one for lazy gardeners mind….which might explain all the negative comments
Years of dealing with removing it working for a gardener in my teens has reinforced my opinion that it's a weed and a nice hedge would be a much better addition . Both for visuals and wildlife although it does take time to establish and then lay.
Bamboo is for impatient gardeners.
It was “free” to collect on marketplace
Do you want to come round and dig my weeds up too? For free!!
As above, a nice native hedge will be better in pretty much every way.
It was “free” to collect on marketplace
+1 for thols2 post.
You bin dun over.
I (in part) dealt with an infestation of the stuff by selling the house that came with it.
interesting thread, I was contemplating it as a fence/screen but have shelved that idea.
What instead. It's about a 4 meter run in a mature garden next to our neighbour's sitting area (they put a new patio and small cabin in down the end of their garden where they can sit and catch afternoon sun and barbecue)
There was a very scraggly bush there that was more wood than bush, behind is a chain link to about 3 feet and then they have put a willow screen roll thing which looks shit.
I could just go with fencing, or a hedge but want something that will be a decent size soon, not in 5 years time.
Hence bamboo, or was also considering quick conifers but keep topping them off regularly, not 50 footers!
I'm slow ....but a fence won't take 5 years.
A fence also won't sprout up inside your neighbours cabin.
Bamboo is gonna end up the next Japanese knotweed the amount of people putting unsuitable species in unsuitable locations because they don't want to wait on a hedge
Hence bamboo, or was also considering quick conifers but keep topping them off regularly, not 50 footers!
Conifers are a PITA - ours were left too long before topping and they never look quite right. If I had the enthusiasm I'd hack them out and replace with something else.
Hopefully I got rid of all of it…
You didn’t.
In my experience, I wouldn't have it anywhere in my garden. Old house, there was a patch of it by a pond. Then it was coming up out the lawn. Then in a border 10ft away from the original bit. You could pull the shoots out the ground and it'd tear strips in the garden as if someone had buried a rope. It was everywhere. You'd think you'd got it out and then more would appear. When we originally re-laid the lawn it was worse than we thought - the entire lawn was basically held together about an inch under the grass by a massive weave of bamboo. Got shot of that but then a couple of years later re-laid the lawn again with artificial grass and the bamboo had returned. Took the opportunity to dig it all out. Then moved house. Wouldn't surprise me if it came back.
Awful stuff. Unless you're a panda.
Always amuses/shocks me at a house in Colwell Bay in the Isle of Wight where we frequently holiday. Theres a wall of bamboo which must me 15/20ft high and so dense you can't see through it. Napalm is the only way that'll ever get shifted.
Wtf is it so expensive to buy? I think I paid 30 odd quid in Costco for not that much bamboo, and that seemed a bargain.
I was well aware of its infamous hegemonic designs thorugh, so it was planted in half an old whiskey barrel. Unless it spouts legs under the barrel it's not going anywhere.
There is something magical and calming about watching bamboo sway gently in the breeze.
Not all bamboo are the same when it comes to spreading around a garden.
Species such as Fargesia and Borinda are very well behaved and will stay as tight clumps.
Avoid anything with the word "sasa" in the name.
Your local climate will also dictate how quickly your bamboo grow. I grow my bamboo in a cold Scottish garden and they are well behaved. I have one of the black bamboo and the clump is still the same size as it was when I planted it out 17 years ago. I have heard stories of people planting it out down in southern England and after a few years it starts sending out 10 foot long runners all over the place!
As @thepurist says, to control spread you need to put some root barrier around the bamboo - this is different from a thin surface membrane that you might use to stop weeds.
It's a bit laborious but effective. I'm in warm London and have a Phyllostachys aurea growing exactly where I want it. I can see the runners inside the barrier but so far none have escaped. If any did come over the top they would be easy to spot and cut off. It looks great at this time of year with thick yellow shoots growing in zig-zags.
I appreciate that if you already have a rampant bamboo wrecking your patio it's a whole different issue.
A container would also work - but bamboos are very thirsty so you would need to water it a lot.
Bamboo is for impatient gardeners.
*Puts hand up* 🙂 We very tentatively bought some clumping bamboo, maybe last year, maybe the year before, to fill a gap where a hedge ended and a fence started. It has done nack-all - it's still green, hasn't grown a jot.
I’m slow ….but a fence won’t take 5 years.
I cleared the scraggly bush a year ago, based on extrapolation a fence will take infinity years......
But yes. I would prefer something living that things could live in and would look nicer that some clapped out willow screen and / or shiplap panels