PHYLLOSTACHYS AUREA may be well behaved for many years but it seems to eventually make a run for freedom. I removed one which had stayed put to years but then chucked out runners in all directions. I caught it quite early but still had to trace runners for about 15 feet away from the main clump.
I also have a Fargesia which has remained in a beautiful, if ever expanding clump for well over 20 years with no sign of any runners.
There is a massive amount of confusion over the difference between running and clumping forms of bamboo, clearly at the RHS too. The plant morphology of both are different. A clumping bamboo has short pachymorphic rhizomes and can only shoot upwards from those. The clump can get large and some types are more vigorous than others, but it is biologically impossible for it to ‘run’. A Fargesia bamboo is a classic, well-behaved clumper.
A running bamboo has leptomorphic rhizomes, which grow outwards away from the plant and can form new rhizomes anywhere along that length. Again, some are more vigorous and faster running than others. Classic runners are Phyllostachys and Sasa. So I’m afraid your label is incorrect @Kili, there is no such thing as a ‘clumping phyllostachys’, it’s running ability is a biological fact, but this ability can lie apparently dormant for many years as yours is doing. Climate and growing conditions can make a difference to vigour, how long it takes to run and sprinting speed, but can’t fundamentally change a runner into a clumper!
edited to say, Kili I just read your link and the RHS is actually correct, at the beginning it says “Phyllostachys are attractive, large, evergreen bamboos with running rhizomes, although in cool temperate climates may initially behave like clump-forming genera”
I'm happy to take your word for it Nollie as you sound like quite an expert on this stuff. My label was on bamboo I bought from B&Q many years ago and supplied to them by Verve.
londondesi100 I'm a bit further south than you I live in Jersey 13 miles off the French coast. Not sure if that puts me in a cool temperate climate or not! All I can say is my bamboo is still clumping. However it is constrained by a block wall and blocks at each end of its run so maybe that's helping to keep it in check.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
@Kili, I’m no expert, but I do a lot of reading and research, initially to understand how to control the beast I had been bequeathed in the form of P. Aurea and how not to repeat the nightmare 😆 It’s incredibly irresponsible how so many suppliers mislead the public to shift product and cause problems down the line. The runners can be contained in pots or by installing sturdy root barriers all around them, just keep an close eye on yours!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Just wanted to update everyone here that helped-- ( thanks so much !) -- I've managed ( I think) to dig up all the runners / culms ( by which i mean bamboo stalks if that's not what they are called) in the errant areas -- nothing left to weed-kill on , but for now have left in situ the original planting area (approx 60cm x 150cm )--partly as I will over the next few days see if I can find a practical way to restrict , and partly because even if i can't, i don't want a totally naked bed over winter. Hopefully it won't expand too much over winter and I can dig the rest out and replace early next year. Fingers crossed, now that i know its running I can just be on top of runners more quickly and pounce on anything that sprouts. As an aside, I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens around the Italian gardens on Friday , and I'm pretty sure that the thing I have is the same thing they have planted in planters by the public loos in the gardens.
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Not sure if that puts me in a cool temperate climate or not! All I can say is my bamboo is still clumping. However it is constrained by a block wall and blocks at each end of its run so maybe that's helping to keep it in check.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'