Hey Steve , did you happen to get a pic of the "Robert Young " culms?Ive been going back and forth with Dave,trying to narrow down my search.Your pics of your visit are very helpful. First, the "spectabilis"takes on too much damage from the heavy snow , bending too much.I don't want the aggravation of constantly worrying about that. second, Dave told me his "Robert Young" didn't have the green stripes that he wanted, but, if the bending is minimal, i would be interested, as the yellow culms are very nice. third, after viewing your pics, the "Dulcis " caught my eye big time.It looks to be a fast spreader, with beautiful dark culms that can get upwards of 3".And non bending. If the Robert Young is in good shape(no bending), i would consider that and Dulcis.Im not sure if i could mingle them though, Dulcis looks strong Really what i need to do is take a trip up there to check it out, but if i can make 1 trip, and pick up that day, that would be better. Thanks, Bob

cmontross and inversa, thanks for the advice. The main reason for me digging the trenches and keeping the 'boos separated is because I'm afraid of one species overtaking and choking out another. Since I'm in a much colder/less ideal climate for the bamboo, I am expecting a couple to do really well for me while the others trudge along. I don't want the ones that do really well to overtake and choke out the others that aren't as vigorous because of my climate. Am I right to expect this, or would allowing them to intermingle not be a problem? As far as mowing the thirty foot perimeter: will culms shoot up outside this area? I was told/read that the rhizomes would continue to grow out into the mowed area, but would not spread too far past it since they were not able to establish culms within the mowed area itself. Is this correct? The species I chose are, in order from 1 to 6 in the original picture I posted, P. atrovaginata, P. nuda, P. nigra 'henon', P. rubromarginata, P. aureosulcata 'spectabilis', and P. dulcis. I like the idea of making raised beds, but with six planting areas each being 20' wide and 25' long, that would require a few dump truck loads of top soil. Additionally, most of the above species are already in the ground, this being their third growing season.

just your common Phyllostachys aureosulcata yellow groove...nothing special. just looking for a barrier as I have a large back yard but it backs up to a strip mall. As an update I planted 40 culms 6 weeks ago and today count 42 shoots...not a bad return. Only problem is getting them sprayed with the pepper spray and surrounded by chicken wire before the squirrels get to them!!!

Hi again, More questions! I realize that there are many different forms of Yellow Groove. After looking up images of kudzu's identification, it's very probable the one in GA is this 'Aureocaulis' variety (Golden Crookstem) of Yellow Groove. It's also possible the other variety in the pictures is 'Alata'. It's greener, with the same zigzags. I didn't notice any actual yellow grooves in the second grove, just a greenish color to it. I've looked at a few more variety images, and I still do like the original Yellow Groove, this GA Aerocaulis, and the Spectibilis especially! I'd still have to see P. Nuda in person. What I'm trying to achieve is a grove of bamboo in a line form, maybe 2 ½ - 3 feet wide by 75.5 ft long. There will be breaks, so it wont be a perfect straight line. Im leaning towards rhizome pruning, since digging a full barrier trench would hurt the roots of some existing landscape that are somewhat within the bed line; a white pine (large, mature), thin spruce (almost as tall as the white pine), dogwood (12 ft tall), and a couple of rhodas (Ill probably hack these out and move them). I rather berm up the grove line about a foot taller then ground level, and rhizome prune it. Im hoping the berm would give me the an extra foot depth, so rhizome pruning down another 8-10 inches around the berm wont cut into any existing tree roots.. I will run the line/berm right up to the existing tree (trunk), and then continue on the other side of the tree would this be ok for the bamboo, and the tree? I want the bamboo and the trees to coexist. Instant results are not necessary, so very young bamboo is just fine. The bamboo I want to grow would have to be a minimum of 15-20 ft when mature, stay evergreen, and not die back in the winter. It is for screening purposes, but it's not necessarily screening something I don't want to see. So I'd prefer the grove to be a semi-screen? To clarify, I dont want total 100% top to bottom blackout, but maybe 40% translucent, so if you really tried hard to look through to culms, you could see the other side. If you were to stand behind the grove at GA I would be able to see you through the culms, the bottom 7-9 ft were not as dense as the leafy top (you can see this in the pictures). I want the grove to stand as straight as possible. I don't like the floppy look of fargesias, I wouldn't want it to flower - go to seed, and then disappear on me! For the look I want, with a fargesia, it would just be too extensive to maintain it that size of grove. Sorry mtnbamboogirl! I know you can probably achieve this look by constantly thinning any grove, but if there is a variety that grows like this by nature, I'd prefer it. (straight, semi-bare on the bottom 6-7 ft, leaves like yellow groove, classic bamboo look & feel) If I were to maintain a grove that is 2 ½ -3 ft wide, no matter what I choose, the appearance would probably be a semi-transparent, since its so thinis this true? I believe I would need to plant a division every 4-5 ft. So 16-19 divisions! Ken, that's a lot of digging for me! I'm just not ready to start the grove yet, or to bust my back..but I'd be game in the future. I'm sure it will still be there, it isn't that easy to eradicate ;) For this very reason, I want to see and make sure I like the appearance of the grove I choose to grow. It's going to be in my backyard for a while. Does anyone know exactly what variety of Yellow Groove is at the Princeton site? How about a P. Bissetti? Not? Most images I see of this the bamboo is leaning over to one side or the other. And finally, since I cant decide.. Would it look silly if I was to plant different varieties in the line? Alternate all different types of Yellow Groove, and mixing in some P. Nuda (maybe every other division?). Remember, its going to be a thin line (3 ft max), so as your eye scanned the backyard form left to right you may notice all the different patches, and a few conifers interrupting the line. Some varieties may be slightly taller then others, or a different shade. Is this going to be ugly? Should I stick with one variety in a line? Kurt: I agree with you, I think these varieties will not die back. I got worried for a second. Maybe I can get some of that Z8+ stuff and get a rain forest going here? .. Mall Micro Climate.. Am I ever gonna shake the mall busting? j/k Im in a residential neighborhood, no mall or highway to be seen, but I could be there in 5 minutes ;) Koniferkid: Ive read posts about your 1000 different types of conifers. Should I be scared? I hope youre not into guns too Protecting the conifers at all costs! Comments? Thanks again!