May I ask why you are fixed on growing bamboo there? I am not sure what you are trying to achieve or screen in that narrow corridor and I think there are much better choices for your raised bank, that won’t get out of hand or push your dry stone wall out. I agree with Loxely there, that wall is not up to containing any bamboo long term - even the best behaved clumper can eventually expand to around 150cm diameter. The sheer mass and outward forces exerted by a mature clump would place too much stress on it and the wall will lose. It also looks quite a woodland-ish and shady spot and personally I think bamboo will look very odd in that context.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I'm looking for a quick and robust screen to provide privacy to our house rear and garden from a non-conforming neighbour's window (1st floor, clear glass, right on border - but there too long for Planning to take action).
The neighb is also not beyond vandalising what is there, so I've had to set up CCTV to protect that area (Note dead leaves on Tulip tree...)
The large conifer you can see on the LH side currently provides some screening, but I'm hoping to have that removed as an alternative does the job - it's a large ugly thing.
I have a couple of Port Laurels starting to grow on that bank, but they are vulnerable.
Hmm, a non-conforming window with what sounds like a non-conforming neighbour! I am assuming that your property is to the right of the boundary wall in your photo, as the left side also looks non-conforming! Understanding your desire for a quick growing, effective screen, perhaps you should consider a well-behaved, quick growing conifer like Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata atrovirens). I'd plant two staggered rows in your raised bed to get maximum coverage and benefit. Rather than a mixture of horticultural delights which may have differing growth rates and demands, a simple hedge of a plant like Thuja will provide a uniform, easily controlled barrier. It won't cause you any concerns about invasiveness and may suit you better than bamboo (even though I'm a big fan of well chosen and well managed bamboo, in the right place!). See what you think:
I think it would be a mistake to have bamboo there @PnD. I'd agree that you'll get runners pushing through that retaining wall, which will be a real headache. I also remember seeing an item on a gardening prog [possibly G's World] many years ago, with a chap who was a recognised expert on bamboo, and he said they all run eventually, if the conditions suit them. Obviously, he was talking about ones in open ground, but it's worth bearing in mind. I'd think any form of hedging would be preferable to bamboo. Hundreds of choices if you check any of the specialist hedge growers' sites, and it's bare root season in about a week's time, so that's a very inexpensive method of getting a decent bit of screening.
Hopes Grove Nursery and Hedges Direct are both a good place to start for getting some ideas
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Oh dear, sympathies re the non-conforming window and difficult neighbour, I can understand why you were thinking of bamboo, but do try and resist, it will cause you no end of trouble. Wouldn’t there also be an issue with a hedge because of the high hedges legislation? I can’t recall the exact details but I’m sure the maximum height of even a short row of evergreen/semi-evergreen hedging plants is 2m, which would not get you the 4-6m you said you were looking for, but deciduous hedging is exempt I think..
You may be better with a single, strategically placed evergreen tree to block the offending window, underplanted with bulbs and perennials.
Is there any other way you can create privacy in your garden? Installing a pergola, for example, to give you somewhere private to sit out?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Thank you all so much for the further comments - all very wise.
If you look at the photo of my bank (page 2?), you might see a small conifer (castlewellan gold) in the foreground, and beyond it are a couple of Port Laurels, so my original plan was to try and get some gentle screening going there using more appropriate trees. I don't like 'hedges' of conifers, but just wanted these three trees to do most of the work.
However, the furthest away PLaur took some of the damage from the herbicide my neighb sprayed over the Tulip tree, so it's already taken a hit. Hence me thinking that Bamboo would be more robust and fast-acting.
I obviously had the police involved (the second time in around 15 years), but there's little they can do without hard evidence - the neighb obviously denied everything. An arboriculturist checked the trees, and a process of elimination arrived at potential causes as 'lack of water, or herbicide'. And I know it ain't the former... I'm currently looking at the possibility of taking civil action against the neighb.
Yes, I think you are correct in your recommendations. Although I do like the appearance of many bamboos, it wouldn't really fit in with that scheme. I'm going to plant some ground cover to act as a fast 'witness' to any further attack, and then nurture the existing trees along, adding probably more PLaurels on the further-away bank.
Do you have a security camera covering the area? They can be bought quite cheaply nowadays. It might be worth thinking about because then you'd have video evidence. Sometimes, making a show of putting one up can be enough to deter any further nonsense.
All very difficult though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Yes, I have one camera up and running, with another planned to be aiming from the opposite direction. Hopefully it'll be a deterrent, but whether it could actually catch a fired 'spray' is hard to tell. I'm hoping I'm more prepared this time, should any new signs of damage appear.
It's astonishing how seemingly easy it is to get away with such a wanton act of vandalism. Gob-smacking in its cynicism.
He is a truly foul individual - arrogant, entitled, glib, yuck. And with this latest episode he's also tainted the rest of his family who are going along with it.
I fee really sorry for you @PnD. Some people can make your life a real misery. We seem to be getting an ever increasing number of queries on the forum about it, and it's very difficult to advise the best course of action. I have a neighbour across the back access road from me who is a real piece of work. Vans and cars parked there all the time, and often two of them with his workbench and chop saw getting used in between, which also block the access to my drive/parking. It's at the junction with the road, and these vehicles are going to cause an accident one day because no one coming in or out can see what's there. There's various other things he's done which are definitely illegal ['acquiring' the pavement to extend a converted carport into a shed is one of them ] but I know that if I complain to the council, he'll make the assumption it's me. He's already made an assumption about something else, which is why he's ignored me completely for about 5 years. It only dawned on me fairly recently what it was. That's the kind of a***hole he is though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Western Red Cedar hedge plants | Thuja plicata (Thuya) hedging (best4hedging.co.uk)
I also remember seeing an item on a gardening prog [possibly G's World] many years ago, with a chap who was a recognised expert on bamboo, and he said they all run eventually, if the conditions suit them. Obviously, he was talking about ones in open ground, but it's worth bearing in mind.
I'd think any form of hedging would be preferable to bamboo. Hundreds of choices if you check any of the specialist hedge growers' sites, and it's bare root season in about a week's time, so that's a very inexpensive method of getting a decent bit of screening.
Hopes Grove Nursery and Hedges Direct are both a good place to start for getting some ideas
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You may be better with a single, strategically placed evergreen tree to block the offending window, underplanted with bulbs and perennials.
Is there any other way you can create privacy in your garden? Installing a pergola, for example, to give you somewhere private to sit out?
All very difficult though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have a neighbour across the back access road from me who is a real piece of work. Vans and cars parked there all the time, and often two of them with his workbench and chop saw getting used in between, which also block the access to my drive/parking. It's at the junction with the road, and these vehicles are going to cause an accident one day because no one coming in or out can see what's there. There's various other things he's done which are definitely illegal ['acquiring' the pavement to extend a converted carport into a shed is one of them ] but I know that if I complain to the council, he'll make the assumption it's me. He's already made an assumption about something else, which is why he's ignored me completely for about 5 years. It only dawned on me fairly recently what it was. That's the kind of a***hole he is though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...