Needed: Hedging shrub. Must Play nice with Ditch Witch

18 years ago

Howdy folks!

I am soon to be moving again and am planning what to do along one boundary that is quite exposed to a neighboring property.

I have pretty much decided that I want a bamboo hedge for the height and year round privacy. However, to keep this hedge contained I am going to have to do annual root pruning with a shovel or a ditch witch.

In consideration of the neighbor and just because some people can be very bamboo-phobic and fond of topical herbicides (lol), The hedge will be set back enough (?TBD?) to allow me to get my ditchwitch in without disturbing the ground on their property.

However, the obsessive/possessive plantaholic within fears too much space will go to waste behind this grove and that I need to put MY mark on it (lol).... besides I may decide to wrap the whole scheme around to the street side of my property.

So, I'm now pondering what I might use that fits these criteria:

1) Would have to be full sun tolerant.

2) Would hopefully not send out roots deeper than one foot out too very far as both mine and my neighbors septic drain field may be nearby.

3) Would have to tolerate and recover from some hacking back in the fall as necessary to get my ditch witch between it and the bamboo.

4) Would have to tolerate the resulting root pruning it would recieve from the ditch witching.

5) Neighbor "friendly". IE: Looks nice, but is perhaps maybe just dense or thorny enough to keep the kids and pets contained without killing anyone. Doesn't sucker too much or create obnoxious odor or litter. Also, see 6.

6) Looks nice against a backdrop of boo. Probably Temple Bamboo, or Semiarundinaria Fastuosa, if you know what that is. And I'll probably try to maintain the bamboo in a clumping staggered hedgerow formation.

7) I'll be starting with small bamboo divisions, so in order to avoid shading it out, I'll need to start with relatively small specimens on the shrub. However, I would like it to achieve some type of fullness or completed look in the not too distant future.

Tall order?

Hope not.

Thanks

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Comments (2)

donn_
18 years ago
Why not just use your witch once, and install a root barrier? That way you can put the screen closer to the property line.

I just looked at the Temple Boo, and love it. What's your source for divisions? Are you concerned about it's -5Â° minimum temperature?
hoe_hoe_hoe
Original Author
18 years ago
Hi, Donn. The consensus among the veterans at the bamboo forum seems to be that rhizome barriers offer a false sense of security. Apparantly, rhizomes can puncture with some forcefullness and work there way out into the surrounding landscape. Also, the containment effect, disruption of ground moisture etc, apparantly leads to the ultimate decline of the plants health and vigor. Don't want to come across as an expert when I've only very recently been converted, but this is the viewpoint I've come to accept.

But as to the temp- I'm not concerned at all!! I've seen it listed as -10, but even at -5, I'll probably not see that temperature too soon. Anyway, with minimum temps for bamboo what you will usually find is the temperature at which foliage is killed. For culms (canes) you have to go colder still and to kill the plant so that it will never come back again, you have to go SIGNIFICANTLY colder. The great thing with bamboo is the remarkable growth you get in just one season, so even if things were to die back to the ground, you get a quick recovery.
I grew Bambusa Multiplex 'Golden Goddess' for 6 years until it got bulldozed this winter by a careless contractor. You'll probably find a minimum temp in the 20's on that one. Granted I was left with a clump of dead stems EVERY spring and therefore it never attained nearly the height that you'll read about, but I GREW IT!!!!!

Glad you approve of the Temple Bamboo. I did go ahead and place an order today with bamboogardens.com for 15 divisions. Can't testify to quality as this is my first order with them, but I was ecstatic that I was able to verify availability and get assurance of a next business day shipment in a personalized phone call since I will soon be moving and want to plant within days of getting to the new house. They didn't have the straight species which gets the nice maroonish cast in stock, but I was able to get the cultivar 'Viridis' which retains a solid green coloration and since its the structure/form of the plant that I love most and everything else seemed right, I went for it! If you are not already, I encourage you to try some bamboo if you are up to the maintenance. Or, experiment with one of the subtropical clumpers as a dieback shrub! There are hardy clumpers too but unfortunately, they don't seem to be reliable in the hot, humid SE. Sorry if I'm preaching to the choir!
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Needed: Hedging shrub. Must Play nice with Ditch Witch

Comments (2)

donn_

hoe_hoe_hoe
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Needed: Hedging shrub. Must Play nice with Ditch Witch

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donn_

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hoe_hoe_hoe
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