Return to the Metro NY Gardening Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Which bamboo and What to plant around it?
| | |
Posted by fmogul z6-7 NY (My Page) on Mon, Aug 28, 06 at 19:05
| (Cross-posted to Japanese Gardens, Metro NY Gardens and Gardening in Shade)
My aging neighbor has mistaken me for a landscaping expert and enlisted me to overhaul her back patio. Picture a *very* shady backyard, behind a Brooklyn brownstone, underneath a canopy of old oaks and sycamores. Some filtered light gets through, but not much. She wants to hide her neighbor's chainlink fence, dumpster and concertina wire, on top of an embankment. Total height about 15-17'. The patio is surrounded on three sides by 2-3' deep beds, with concrete on one side and walls or other obstacles on the other.
I was thinking of using bamboo on one of those three sides as a screen, and installing a rhizome barrier so that it doesn't spread and take up all three. So, picture a well-contained rectangular plot that's 2-3' x 12-15'
Here are my questions:
1) I've been soliciting suggestions and have been getting advice for both clumping and running types. Seems like there are strong camps on each side. Anyone want to try to make a definitive case for one versus the other in my situtation?
2) The nominees so far: Semiarundaria fastuosa, Semiarundinaria 'okuboi,' Fargesia robusta, P. rubro, Ps. Japonica and I. latifolius. Anyone want to weigh in one of these or others not listed?
3) Can I plant anything in and around any of these? If there's a finite, contained space, and I were to try to plant, say, anything such as ferns, hostas, carex, or hakone grass -- will the culms grow around them, or just crowd them out of existence? Would I need to install barriers in front of the bamboo if I want some shade perennials, grasses or ground covers?
4) Is fall an okay time to plant bamboo in this area and microclimate? Or wait until spring. In realize the answer might depend on the specific type, but it also might be a qualified yes-for-all or no-for-all...
Many thanks,
Fred |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Which bamboo and What to plant around it?
| | |
Just be certain you know what you're getting yourself into by planting bamboo. If you plant a running bamboo, it wants to form a grove--of bamboo. Behind my house there is a grove of Golden Goddess bamboo ('Phyllostachys aureum'). Every spring I have to vigilantly mow or cut out culms that advance into the back lawn. I do think it's beautiful and it certainly does screen well (haven't seen my neighbors in years back there). It's also, obviously, evergreen and serves as a windbreak from northern winds in winter. Bamboo leaves also make a beautiful rustling sound in breeze. Now, although it is very invasive, I have noticed that the grove does not advance into a neigbor's yard in the back. It is very shady back there and grass will not grow there. When I noticed some minor sprouting of bamboo in his yard, I thought great, something for him to complain about now. But I think he actually welcomed something green back there as he's left this one shoot that never really developed. Thing is, the bamboo has NOT been advancing at all back there--ITS TOO DARK! My point is that although many bamboos have the well-earned reputation of being highly aggressive, they will not dominate the scene if it's shady.
I don't know about the species that you listed, but I can tell you that even among the notorious Phyllostachys (spreading) genus, there are differences in how aggressively the bamboo spreads across the landscape. I also have Phyllostachys nigra, P. vivax, P. viridis, and Pseudosasa japonica (none seems as aggressive as 'aureum'--so far).
Regards to how bamboo grows with other plants, I can report the following. Over the years, as the grove had gotten taller, the ground has gotten shadier and shadier. There are still some hosta and ferns back there, but they probably wouldn't be long for this world, if I stopped doing some heavy pruning in the spring to remove culms from areas I don't want there near. I have had to remove a number of culms from growing around a Magnolia grandiflora in the backyard. If I didn't do the pruning and mowing, the bamboo would eventually win by making the yard too shady for other plants (and they also would be in competition with the bamboo's thirst for soil moisture). I would say that based on your description, the area is much too shaded from the sun to have bamboo do anything (other than be a nuisance). Finally, there is no problem with planting bamboo (or other plants) around these parts in the fall. Now is actually a good time now since it's supposed to rain for days now according to the weather channel. Good luck! |
|
|
|
|
