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Bamboo
Paul Adams
Posts: 2
i am trying to hide a neighbours summer house and I am growing bamboo in pots as I am worried about the bamboo spreading if I placed in the ground. I am using non evasive bamboo but was still worried hence the pots. The bamboo is just over 2 years old but after feeding and watering it has only reached approx 4 feet high. Any thoughts on what I can do please or possible alternative plants that would not cause a problem.
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If the bamboo variety you have is non evasive it shouldn't spread by it's roots if planted in the ground. It may become conjested and form an ever increasing spread on top of the ground like for instance pampas grass and at some point need splitting, in which case you get extra plants free and can build up a screen barrier over a number of years.
What variety do you have, it may have reached it's full height and how big is the pot. Plants do out grow their pots and need potting up, alternatively some plants don't mind having their root ball reduced and placing back in the same pot with some fresh compost.
Do you water the bamboo in pots a lot?
i keep my bamboo in a huge pot with a saucer and can fill the saucer nearly everyday with water. this seems to produce nice green foliage and lots of growth
In order to grow bamboo to its full height, you have to give it plenty of room. In a pot, it won't achieve its full potential height it would grow to in open ground. The other factor is water. As mdw84 above said, they water their bamboo in a huge pot nearly every other day. If you don't or can't to that and/or your pot is small, then that will impact on its height. Bamboos in open ground that clump rather than run are generally well behaved, but even they might need containing with a barrier if you want to stop it from spreading too far or outside the boundary of where you want it to go. Digging it up and splitting it might sound relatively easy, but I've seen examples of people trying to split a bamboo in the ground and a pot, and people have snapped spades and have had to use an electric saw to get thru' the roots and rhizomes of a mature bamboo. Not for the faint hearted!
Thank you all for your input. I have two types of Fargesia bamboo, Nitida (Great Wall) and Seabrida. The reason I have in pots is that you hear so many horror stories about them taking over the garden. The current pots are approx. 16 inches x 16 x 16. I think my best best would be to place in much larger containers. Thank you all again for your input.
Fargesia bamboo's tend not to run, so you bought the right ones. They just send out new canes further out every year. You can snap the new growth off with your hands or lawn mower so hardly a problem plant. be a man not a mouse Paul.
I would dig a hole, fill it with garden waste, compost, chicken pellets and the like and then put the Bamboo in it slightly lower than the current soil level, so the Bamboo stays damp and is well fed. It will reward you within a year or so by growing well.
I have a cutting from next door in 45cm wide by 60cm high pot, it had about 4 canes 2 years ago and now has quadrupled and always does well but it does have a saucer and is watered a lot, my next door neighbour out here in the ground and it has hone mad, but does not seem to have run everywhere.
I also have black cane bamboo (unsure of correct name) This one came from a popular online centre and was very small with maybe 2 9cm canes in, in a pot that is 30cm wide by 25 deep it has grown very quickly by new canes, roots do not seem too bad tbh. I have taken some out of this pot and put it in the ground in the lawn, so I can cut it with mower if need be.
my conclusion is if you are going to keep them in pots make sure they get lots of water and the larger the pot the better I have found. ( unless very small specimens)
lets not forget that they are a true grass so treat them as it and they will grow