Bamboo ID

[Alicehunter2000]

Could someone help me id this. It is cold hardy to at least 20 degrees probably lower. Approx. 25 ft. Tall. Clump is approx. 8 years old and about 6 ft. In diameter. Tight clumper.

[Kennybenjamin]

The most popular bamboo around these parts ( for screening out neighbours ) is Bambusa textilis var. gracilis. Yours look to be a very similar type if not the same

[John Case]

I have the same one in my yard......about 20 feet tall and 200+ culms in a 4 foot wide clump....very nice!

[Kailua_Krish]

Bambusa multiplex cultivar?

[John Case]

I believe it is an actual subspecies......

[Geoff]

Looks like Bambusa tuldoides to me (a bit too large for multiplex or textilis)

[John Case]

Geoff,

The culms are too close and do not have 1) the zig-zag internodes or 2) the Buddha Belly.......I have both in my yard (although I am disposing of the tuldoides as it is far too large for me).

Thanks,

JC

[WestCoastGal]

David, I only have experience with one bamboo plant species, Bambusa textilis var gracilis (Slender Weavers Bamboo), and as mentioned above, your photos do resemble it. It is a tight, upright clumper, small dia culms (mature suppose to be around 1.25 in--which I thought would be easier to trim out down the road), mature height around 30 feet depending on area (Bay area here around 20-25 feet), and blue green in color. Bambusa Textilis (not gracilis variation, but Weavers Bamboo) is a bit wider in culm dia. (2 in) and taller (40 ft) and the leaves are suppose to be longer than the var gracilis. Both varieties can handle lows in our areas easily. In my area I only found one bamboo nursery at the time carrying the var. gracilis, West County Oasis, and tracked it down from the resource list on the American Bamboo Society's website: http://www.bamboo.org/BambooSourceList/ShowFilterSources.php?Sort=Company&Country=All&state=All&wholesale=-1&Button=GO

We planted ours out as a privacy screen between our fireplace and fence back in August 2013. I'm guessing the required city set back for the fireplace to the fence was 5 feet so. If you like I can start a thread for it and show photo progression. I haven't really seen our culms turn yellow like some of those in your photos but figure it could be due to age, sun or nutrients. I've noticed our leaves get yellow when they want more nitrogen. They greened up nicely with an Osmocote time release feeding. Some of our canes are probably in the 20 ft range now and we are expecting this summer/fall's growth to really add some height to the rest and fill out more between plant groupings.

[Alicehunter2000]

Yes, that would be nice to see the progression. I think the yellow is from poor beach sand and full sun. Really liking everyone report on this one....my yards not very big...and screening capabilities of a particular species is paramount to me.

[Alicehunter2000]

Does anyone have any ideas for other cold hardy, very tight clumping bamboos to try that will have a VERY small footprint (less than 1 meter (3 ft.)).......... but also has some height (more than 3 meters (9 ft.))?

Remember I am in a cold zone 9a, I would plant it to withstand zone 8b..... so it would need to withstand 15-20 degrees F. (-7--10 C.) in the ground. Thanks!

[Sandy Loam]

Hello AliceHunter2000. I am definitely no expert on bamboo, but there are many amazing varieties of bamboo that fit the climate specifications you mentioned, both in clumping and running varieties. You will always hear people say, "never grow running bamboo, even if you install a rhizome barrier because it can still somehow escape." Clumping bamboo won't escape, but the problem with it is that, over the course of time, the rhizome will not stay within the confines of a 1 metre zone unless you periodically dig the ground up and use a powerful reciprocating saw to remove chunks of the rhizome. The rhizome will keep growing bigger and bigger unless you keep it in check this way. What a nuisance!

I understand that the skinny clumping bamboos will stay limited to the confines inside two concrete barriers (e.g. between your house foundation and a concrete wall), even when quite mature, but the big cane bamboos might be powerful enough to burst a concrete wall open (clumping bamboo, that is --- not running bamboo which simply moves away from barriers as it fills out). There are photos online of a clumping bamboo rhizome bursting open a giant concrete culvert pipe. I don't know if that pipe contained re-bar, but it was concrete nonetheless.

The most common skinny bamboos for screening in narrow areas is probably Alphonse Karr, at least in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida. However, I don't like the look of it, personally, and it also has too much of a weeping habit for my tastes. If you are in the Gainesville area, there are many bamboos on display at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens and they all do fine in your climate. Not all of them are labelled, but the garden staff can identify them for you. Note also that there are other bamboos around the garden in random areas outside of the actual Bamboo Garden itself.

I am no expert, but I am familiar with bambusa textilis, var. gracilis and the bamboo in your photo looks too yellow to be that variety. In my region, "Slender Weavers Bamboo" has green canes, not yellow canes. If I am not mistaken, there is an ultra-slim version of that same variety of bamboo, even more slim than "gracilis". As you can see at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, "gracilis" eventually can become quite a massive clump and the canes really aren't all that slim compared to many others.

[John Case]

Does anyone have any ideas for other cold hardy, very tight clumping bamboos to try that will have a VERY small footprint (less than 1 meter (3 ft.)).......... but also has some height (more than 3 meters (9 ft.))?

Remember I am in a cold zone 9a, I would plant it to withstand zone 8b..... so it would need to withstand 15-20 degrees F. (-7--10 C.) in the ground. Thanks!

David, B. multiplex 'Golden Goddess' tops out at 9 feet or so and meets your other requirements.....

[WestCoastGal]

David, pulled some photos from our bamboo bed and set up a separate thread for it. http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/45779-bambusa-textilis-var-gracilis/?p=705136 Will try to post photos a few times a year.