How deep should a barrier be for bambusa multiplex and gold Phyllostachys Vivax "aureocaulis "?

[PhilippineExpat]

I'm planning to plant a bunch of bambusa multiplex and phyllostachys vivax "aureocaulis " as hedges and to protect our chicken run from rains and wind. However, I want to be sure they won't spread into our neighbors' lots. I'm thinking of putting a barrier 2 feet in the ground to contain the bamboo. Do you think that's deep enough? The multiplex doesn't get that tall, but I'm not as sure about the vivax. For the barrier I plan to put in hollow blocks because they don't sell plastic bamboo barriers in my country. 

[Kailua_Krish]

If you have access to other species I would not plant a Phyllostachys. Just my 2 cents. There are also much prettier species of tropical bamboo that can grow in the philippines other than bambusa multiplex.

[PhilippineExpat]

21 minutes ago, krishnaraoji88 said:

If you have access to other species I would not plant a Phyllostachys. Just my 2 cents. There are also much prettier species of tropical bamboo that can grow in the philippines other than bambusa multiplex.

What's wrong with phyllostachys? And I like the multiplex because it doesn't get too tall and the culms are super dense which will protect our chickens from rain and strong wind gusts. Plus our neighbor has a bunch of multiplex he is taking out of his garden. The same neighbor also gave us some rooted pups of schizostachyum lima (native bamboo) and I think multiplex is prettier and faster growing. All that said, what species do you think would be prettier? I am very new to bamboo so I'm pretty ignorant about all this.

Edited August 2, 2020 by PhilippineExpat

[John hovancsek]

I would not do any running bamboo the phyllostachys is a runner and I promise you will regret planting it eventually. What height and color leaf do you like? I like the bigger leaf bamboo like dendrocalamus 

[Merlyn]

Bambusa Multiplex is a clustering bamboo and will be easy to contain.  They only put up new culms a few inches away from previous ones.  It does not need a barrier.  As an example, here are ~7 year old clumps of (left to right) Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis," Bambusa Textilis "Kanapaha," and Bambusa Maligensis "Seabreeze."  You can see the culms are tightly packed on the Textilis types and even on Seabreeze.  Personally I wouldn't plant a runner anywhere.

Depending on height preference and your minimum temp you could get away with most on my current list: Bambusa (Chungii, Asian Lemon, Guangxiensis, Lako, Seabreeze, Tuldoides, Vulgaris), Dendrocalamus (Hamiltonii, Maroochy, Latiflorus, Minor Amoenus, Maximuslamina) and Gigantochloa "Bali White Stripe."

[Hillizard]

Merlyn2220: Have you planted Thyrsocalamus liang (formerly Bambusa nana) in your garden? I'm curious if it's a tight clumper as well under your growing conditions? I have a small one here in NorCal, clustered among other bamboo species, but it's not grown much in over two years here. Here's a picture from a nursery site...

 

[John hovancsek]

3 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

Bambusa Multiplex is a clustering bamboo and will be easy to contain.  They only put up new culms a few inches away from previous ones.  It does not need a barrier.  As an example, here are ~7 year old clumps of (left to right) Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis," Bambusa Textilis "Kanapaha," and Bambusa Maligensis "Seabreeze."  You can see the culms are tightly packed on the Textilis types and even on Seabreeze.  Personally I wouldn't plant a runner anywhere.

Depending on height preference and your minimum temp you could get away with most on my current list: Bambusa (Chungii, Asian Lemon, Guangxiensis, Lako, Seabreeze, Tuldoides, Vulgaris), Dendrocalamus (Hamiltonii, Maroochy, Latiflorus, Minor Amoenus, Maximuslamina) and Gigantochloa "Bali White Stripe."

I have one of those white stripe in my yard and it is amazing 

[Merlyn]

1 hour ago, John hovancsek said:

I have one of those white stripe in my yard and it is amazing 

I just planted the white stripe from a 3 gallon, so I haven't seen any new shoots yet.  I'm hopeful it will make it here, as I am borderline 9b/9a and it's not supposed to be too hardy.  The only things I've read are defoliation around 26F but seems ok above 28F.  Do you have any info on cold tolerance for this one?

[PhilippineExpat]

8 hours ago, John hovancsek said:

I would not do any running bamboo the phyllostachys is a runner and I promise you will regret planting it eventually. What height and color leaf do you like? I like the bigger leaf bamboo like dendrocalamus 

Ah I did not realize it's a runner! I guess I'll forget about it, then.  For me it's more about leaf size. I like the dainty leaves because they look more artistic to me. I also like thicker culms which I know the multiplex does not offer. However, I don't think I want 60 foot bamboo because we get typhoons here and they'd look super out of place, so I can accept not having thick culms. My height range is 10-30 feet which I think limits my options. I also want a fast growing one. I love the look of the buddha belly but I read it grows really slow (not sure if that's true, though). 

[John hovancsek]

22 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I just planted the white stripe from a 3 gallon, so I haven't seen any new shoots yet.  I'm hopeful it will make it here, as I am borderline 9b/9a and it's not supposed to be too hardy.  The only things I've read are defoliation around 26F but seems ok above 28F.  Do you have any info on cold tolerance for this one?

The reason I got it was it said that it does good at high altitude and I an 1,500 ft above sea level.  I have new shoots coming up now, I will get a pic

[John hovancsek]

19 hours ago, PhilippineExpat said:

Ah I did not realize it's a runner! I guess I'll forget about it, then.  For me it's more about leaf size. I like the dainty leaves because they look more artistic to me. I also like thicker culms which I know the multiplex does not offer. However, I don't think I want 60 foot bamboo because we get typhoons here and they'd look super out of place, so I can accept not having thick culms. My height range is 10-30 feet which I think limits my options. I also want a fast growing one. I love the look of the buddha belly but I read it grows really slow (not sure if that's true, though). 

Check tropical bamboo nursery in Florida website.  All there bamboo is clumping and have pics. U might not be able to buy but get a good idea of what you might like

[Merlyn]

23 hours ago, PhilippineExpat said:

For me it's more about leaf size. I like the dainty leaves because they look more artistic to me. I also like thicker culms which I know the multiplex does not offer. However, I don't think I want 60 foot bamboo because we get typhoons here and they'd look super out of place, so I can accept not having thick culms. My height range is 10-30 feet which I think limits my options.

If you want a rapid grower with dense small leaves then Bambusa Eutuldoides Viridi-Vittata (Asian Lemon) is a good choice.  It's my fastest grower, just ahead of Seabreeze (Bambusa Malingensis).  Asian Lemon gets to about 25' and 1" diameter culms, which is somewhat smaller diameter.  Bambusa Multiplex "Alphonse Karr" and "Silverstripe" are probably in the 15-30 foot range, with lots of fine leaves and about 1.5" diameter culms.  Bambusa Chungii Barbellata "Baby Blue" is 20-25' tall with medium leaves and 1.5" culms. 

If you are looking for something shorter with big culms there isn't much better than Bambusa Vulgaris Wamin "Dwarf Buddha Belly."  I have two planted since March and one has already put up 6 new large diameter shoots.  They are still only ~5 feet tall, but should probably jump to 8-10' by this fall or next spring.  They grow to 7-18' max (typically 15' max) with 3" culms.

I would second John's suggestion.  Go browse all the varieties on Tropical Bamboo nursery's website.  You can also sort by size/height on the Bamboo society's website here:

http://www.bambooweb.info/SearchBambooPlants.php

[John hovancsek]

[Merlyn]

On 8/2/2020 at 3:28 PM, Hillizard said:

Merlyn2220: Have you planted Thyrsocalamus liang (formerly Bambusa nana) in your garden? I'm curious if it's a tight clumper as well under your growing conditions? I have a small one here in NorCal, clustered among other bamboo species, but it's not grown much in over two years here. Here's a picture from a nursery site...

I missed this question earlier, but no experience with Bambusa Nana (or the real name), I am pretty new to bamboo.  Most of mine are the big leaf Dendrocalamus types.  All are under 1 year old from a 3 gallon.  The photo from earlier was at a nursery in Central FL and I'm taking their word that they didn't prune it to keep the size.  My Seabreeze and Asian Lemon have both put out around 10 new shoots this spring and summer, far more than the others.