All of the Bambusas will do well in Houston and they are all clumpers. How large of a screen are you looking for, and how much area do you have available?

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Kt

My fence along the back of the yard is 60' long but shallow. I want to contain the bamboo to a depth of about 5' (save space for future pool). We have neighbors all around us with small yards so I think 25' high is probably the tallest we can go. I like the darker green color and larger canes best. Thanks for your reply.

Look at some of the B. multiplexes.

A 25 foot tall culm will probably only be about 1.5 inches in diameter though.

Here are a few green ones:

B. multiplex HEDGE BAMBOO
B. multiplex 'Goldstripe'
B. multiplex 'Midori Green' GREEN ALPHONSE
B. textilis 'Dwarf'

There are others, but they are yellow with green striped culms and some with blue culms, etc.

Bamboo may lean outward at the tops more than 5 feet also. In areas that I have limited space, I simply tie a rope around the culms when they are young and cinch the rope up tight. You can leave the rope on or remove it later on after the culms harden a bit, leaving them very erect.

B. multiplex 'Golden Goddess' is listed to grow to 10 feet in height, but mine has reached 15 feet which may be tall enough for you.

Kt

kentuck,
i never thanked you for the info. i think i got busy with my son starting school, hurricane ike, and then who knows what. i am back to thinking about bamboo again. thanks for the info.

You're welcome.

Hi Kentuck, I live in Northern Kentucky and down near the Ohio River.. I would like to use some bamboo for a privacy screen ,but I have some crabby neighbors and do not want them to start to crab if the bamboo becomes a problem and goes into their yard.. what would be the best kind to use . the area I would like to plant is about 40 feet long. Is there something I can do to keep the bamboo from going into their yard.. I would like your advice.
Huggy

In your zone, the Bambusas will not do well. There are some mountain bamboos that are clumpers that will do well in your area, but I don't have a lot of experience with them. They will not spread out of control like running bamboos, which might be better suited for your area.

If you plant a running bamboo, you can install a barrier. There are several kinds of barriers, the most popular being the rhizome barrier bought at bamboo nurseries. Just be sure to install it at a slant...the top leaning outward from the grove.

If that is too much work or cannot be done, Kudzu9 has great advice on trenching around a grove for containment.

Good Luck

Kt

P.S. Huggy...I'm located in TX in case you misread.

I seem to like the bamboo that is a little large for my yard or does not do well in Katy, Texas. I love blue chungii and black bamboo. My yard gets full sun and does not have a lot of north wind protection. Will it be a nightmare trying to control the size of the chungii clump? Can I grow some type of black bamboo here? Timor black is sooo pretty but am told it is a little to cold here for it. Does anyone know of another black bamboo option? I'm a little afraid of running bamboo (neighbors may not be happy with me) but open to suggestions.

thanks

I grow Timor Black and Tropical Black. Tropical Black being the prettier of the two bamboos, but both are not very cold hardy and I keep them in pots, where they do not do well, as they need room to grow.

My chungii gets almost 40 feet tall here...so far, and is a bit of an open clumper, but very pretty.

B. chungii var. barbelatta grows smaller but is supposedly as pretty as the regular chungii. It is listed to grow to 22 feet in height. You might want to look into that one.

These are clumping bamboos, so they will not be hard to control if needed.

Kt

Thanks kt. Do you know how tropical blue chungii does here?

I'm thinking of mixing chungii and dwarf textillis along my fence line (mainly to save money). Do you think this would look ok?

I'm going to look at the barbellata.

So sad about the black bamboo. Ah, well.

Yes, I too would like a nice clumping black bamboo but unfortunatley they are not cold hardy enough.

...tropical blue chungii...

I assume you mean Bambusa chungii. As I mentioned above, mine does quite well. I've had it for about four years in the ground now. I think it is a bit more cold hardy than listed. You are a bit warmer than here during Winter months, so it should do better for you.

Mixing the two would probably look alright, but since I don't grow the dwarf textilis, I can't say from experience, but I can say that my textilis, and varieties, tend to lean outward a bit and the chungii is more vertical which may make a beautiful mixture.

Don't plant them too close together though.

Good Luck

Kt