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I need a loose clumping bamboo under 20ft tall

13 years ago

Any suggestions? I want to plant it in my front yard along with my Borinda Boliana. My wife wants a bamboo that is not a tight clumper/thick hedge bamboo. But we also need it to be less than 20ft. tall because of an overhead cable line. I live in San Diego, zone 9.

Thanks!

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Comments (9)

kudzu9
13 years ago
You could consider Fargesia utilis, or Yushania anceps if the site gets some shade; these two would get 10-15 feet tall. Another possibility is Yushania alpina, but it might get a little more than 20 feet tall.
brownmola
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks!
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Difficult to answer as you have not provided enough information. In approximately what area of the country are you located? Clumping bamboo are terrific but they tend to resent extreme climates (too hot, too cold, too dry). I have had good results with Fargesia rufa. Most Fargesia will not thrive with hot, humid summers (especially at night), but this one seems to do well. It also depends on its sun and wind exposure--they don't like daylong, blazing sun or cold arctic winds (mine gets morning sun, dappled sun, or only part day, direct sun, and some protection from wind by a fence. Also depends on your rainfall, bamboo like rain even though they can take some drought. Fargesia is also fairly expensive. The photo of the wall of bamboo (which is a mixed grove of F. rufa and Borinda angustifola) that I posted was started several years ago from three tiny pots--each around $16.00 dollars. Each season, I divided the clumps which gradually grew wider and taller. Now, they are over seven feet tall and about three feet wide. It worked for that particular spot but might have failed elsewhere. Even if bamboo does not work for you, there are lots of alternatives. Good luck!
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daveh_sf
13 years ago
One of my favorites is Thamnocalamus crassinodus 'Aristatus'. It's about 10-12 ft. Powdery blue culms up to a few inches apart, does best with a little shade.
sinuous
13 years ago
Are you growing Borinda boliana in San Diego? I am in Pt. Loma and thinking it may be right but would like to talk with someone who already has experience with it and our leaf margin frying and alkalai water.
brownmola
Original Author
13 years ago
The Borinda boliana did nothing for 7 months, while all my other bamboo has been shooting. I had to cut away 1 or 2 culms that looked really dry/dead. However, I just looked at it this week and I noticed 1 shoot coming out of the ground which I was super excited about. I looked at it again yesterday and now there are 10 shoots coming out of the ground. I'm not a bamboo expert but it seems to be pretty happy now.
kudzu9
13 years ago
brownmola-
It always takes a while for a bamboo to establish itself before shooting -- sometimes a couple of years -- so that sounds like very good progress.
brownmola
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Kudzu. It's hard to be patient knowing how fast they can grow, but I guess that is part of the excitement.
Embothrium
13 years ago
A bamboo that didn't shoot every year would be dead or otherwise severely inhibited. Happy bamboo starts should triple the culm size every year, from the start. Where you normally see culm size falling off markedly after planting (despite otherwise favorable circumstances) is when small divisions are taken from a much larger specimen. These cannot produce the same sized culms at first because they no longer are part of a large plant with its larger energy supply.

I also wonder how Fargesia utilis etc. might do in extreme southern California - esp. if the intended planting position has no shade.
kudzu9
13 years ago
bboy-
I have to respectfully disagree with your description of how fast bamboo increases in size. I've found the old saying: "The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps" to be pretty accurate. Some of my bamboo do a little better than that, but most are on that schedule. Also, a tripling of culm size each year is also not typical behavior, and since every bamboo species has a natural height/diameter limit, tripling would result in hitting that limit in a couple of years. I'm not trying to pick a fight...but that's just not my experience, and I'm in a Zone very conducive to bamboo growth.

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