Seeing mixed reviews that clumping bamboo can be considered invasive even though online sellers state that it's not. I like the look and feel of bamboo but worried about property value. Any thoughts?
@contactsimran7Krc62nT There are some concerns that with climate change black bamboo could become invasive even the clumping forms. I would suggest that you take advice from one of the online line companies that specialise only in Bamboo. There will be forum members who will have used these companies I am sure. Once planted in the ground it is very difficult to lift and split, breaks spades! It can be root pruned but you will need to be vigilant. The best forms will have been cared form by the nurseries for some time and therefore more expensive.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
I grow fargesia rufa and it's very well behaved. It's a smaller bamboo that does spread but in the same way as an ornamental grass, ie very slightly outwards every year. I have had it in its spot for several years and its not grown much horizontally, and there are no unexpected runners coming up far and away. So I'd conclude that some do indeed make nice, easily managed plants but you have to choose the species carefully and make sure you plant them in a spot where they wont cause any issues.
I have others that definitely run but I keep those in large raised planters on a concrete base. There and ware some many examples of gardens that have been taken over by them locally that I wouldn't risk a runner.
Bamboos sold as clumping species in the UK tend to remain just that. It's the non-clumping species that can be problematic. I grow both. The clumping species that I grow is a Fargesia, it is slow growing, it prefers shade and it remains in a tight V shape. The leaves are a lot finer than the non-clumping species. If the right species and variety is chosen, planted correctly and well maintained, you can enjoy the features that make bamboo a valuable addition to a garden. As a precaution, it is still worth including a root barrier when you plant even a clumping species, just to be sure!
The issue is not so much that genuine clumping bamboo is ‘invasive’ by sending out long runners and popping up everywhere, like actual running bamboo species, but that it can get very large if planted in the ground by building up it’s rhizomes in situ and spreading outwards as @thevictorian says. So check ultimate widths carefully.
Running bamboo species are often incorrectly sold as clumping because they can be well behaved in the UK climate for years, even decades, but then they run and that is when you and your poor neighbours get a huge problem. It’s never, ever worth the risk of planting those in the ground and they have even been known to break out of huge concrete planters. There have been plenty of reports already of running bamboos running in the UK @GardenerSuze, including black bamboo (phyllostachys nigra) which is not a clumping form. I have a large, difficult to control stand of running golden bamboo (phyllostachys aurea) planted by the previous occupants and I curse them daily!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Just to add my two penn'orth: I had black bamboo and it went wild - it took two years of digging to eliminate it! I have another clumping variety and it is fine - a key part of my garden as it provides privacy. I agree with @Plantminded : choose the right variety, and put in root barriers right at the start.
My lawn is south facing. I'd like to plant something to cover my neighbours tall naked hedge that I've cut back (first photo). It was taking around 1.5m -2m width on my side so I don't mind the bamboo taking up space from my lawn.
And there is school playground at the back, not backing any houses. They've put wire fencing and there are brambles on the other side (second photo).
I just need something low maintenance, light and airy because I don't like wood fencing panels and don't need a hedge as a boundary.
I'm a young professional so not into gardening. I do like bamboo because its different but if its asking for trouble then I can play safe with something like laurel/portuguese hedging but not my first choice.
" What type of barrier would clumping bamboo need? " A very, very strong one
I'm afraid that won't be easy to get anything established there though. Those conifers suck all the moisture out the ground, and the one thing bamboo needs is lots of moisture. Anything you plant there will need a lot of attention for a long time, until well established, and even then, it could be difficult.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Do you know what kind of conifer that is? If it's Leylandii, unfortunately you'll continue to be faced with those brown trunks which have been exposed as they do not produce new growth from old wood. Bamboo will not enjoy that situation. However, one option could be to construct a brick or corten steel raised bed near the boundary for your bamboo, to give a reasonable growing depth of soil and avoid competition for water and nutrients from the conifers. It will also constrict the roots - bamboos are not deep rooted so the sides of the raised bed will keep it under control. It's really down to what your budget will stretch to.
Ugh, I can see why you would want to screen those ugly bare conifers! Strictly speaking, a genuinely* clumping bamboo species - You are safe with any Fargesia and I particularly like Fargesia Nitida - does not need a root barrier, it just needs space. However, next to those trees you would need to sink a rigid barrier about 45-60cm deep at the back to guard against invading conifer roots! Paving slabs are ideal. You would need a bed minimum 1.5m wide, remove all grass, dig over, then dig in tonnes of manure and compost. Plant at recommended planting distances.
Bamboo is not to everyone’s taste and potential buyers may well be put off or even scared of it. If you want to go ahead, keep the nursery tags so you can prove it is not a runner.
*Avoid and phyllostachys or sasa species especially, both are running (leptomorphic rhizomes) regardless of what any nursery or online seller tells you. A genuine clumper like fargesia has pachymorphic rhizomes. Hence you can never have a running clumper or a clumping runner 😊
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Sorry, clumping bamboo does not need a root barrier... the root system is Pachymorphic, which means it does not have the genetic ability to run.... running bamboo is Leptomorphic, which means it has the potential to run..
Pachymorphic bamboos spread outwards, when established some culms appearing can be as much a foot from the plant, but they are easily pruned off if unwanted, however you should always keep some, otherwise your bamboo will deteriorate if it cannot regenerate itself..
Assuming you are removing part of your lawn, I would not be concerned about planting Fargesia rufa along that edge.. At Alnwick gardens in Northumbria they grow it beautifully as an 8 foot hedge along a path. It tolerates wind, some drought, and full sun. I've grown it here in just such a location, and you will get a lot more rain than I do..
Alternatively, I would like to see a nice hedge of Photinia 'Red Robin' along there, but that would be my choice, and probably not yours..
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I have others that definitely run but I keep those in large raised planters on a concrete base. There and ware some many examples of gardens that have been taken over by them locally that I wouldn't risk a runner.
Running bamboo species are often incorrectly sold as clumping because they can be well behaved in the UK climate for years, even decades, but then they run and that is when you and your poor neighbours get a huge problem. It’s never, ever worth the risk of planting those in the ground and they have even been known to break out of huge concrete planters. There have been plenty of reports already of running bamboos running in the UK @GardenerSuze, including black bamboo (phyllostachys nigra) which is not a clumping form. I have a large, difficult to control stand of running golden bamboo (phyllostachys aurea) planted by the previous occupants and I curse them daily!
And there is school playground at the back, not backing any houses. They've put wire fencing and there are brambles on the other side (second photo).
I just need something low maintenance, light and airy because I don't like wood fencing panels and don't need a hedge as a boundary.
I'm a young professional so not into gardening. I do like bamboo because its different but if its asking for trouble then I can play safe with something like laurel/portuguese hedging but not my first choice.
What type of barrier would clumping bamboo need?
A very, very strong one
I'm afraid that won't be easy to get anything established there though. Those conifers suck all the moisture out the ground, and the one thing bamboo needs is lots of moisture.
Anything you plant there will need a lot of attention for a long time, until well established, and even then, it could be difficult.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Bamboo is not to everyone’s taste and potential buyers may well be put off or even scared of it. If you want to go ahead, keep the nursery tags so you can prove it is not a runner.
*Avoid and phyllostachys or sasa species especially, both are running (leptomorphic rhizomes) regardless of what any nursery or online seller tells you. A genuine clumper like fargesia has pachymorphic rhizomes. Hence you can never have a running clumper or a clumping runner 😊
Pachymorphic bamboos spread outwards, when established some culms appearing can be as much a foot from the plant, but they are easily pruned off if unwanted, however you should always keep some, otherwise your bamboo will deteriorate if it cannot regenerate itself..
Assuming you are removing part of your lawn, I would not be concerned about planting Fargesia rufa along that edge.. At Alnwick gardens in Northumbria they grow it beautifully as an 8 foot hedge along a path. It tolerates wind, some drought, and full sun. I've grown it here in just such a location, and you will get a lot more rain than I do..
Alternatively, I would like to see a nice hedge of Photinia 'Red Robin' along there, but that would be my choice, and probably not yours..