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concrete barrier?

16 years ago

I inherited a gorgeous stand of bamboo when we bought our house 10 years ago. We love it for the privacy, but keeping its spread in check is a challenge. One estimate for installing a trench on either side of the fence line ran upwards of $11,000. Another landscaper is suggesting digging a trench and filling it with concrete.

I like the idea of rhizome pruning along the edge, which I haven't tried, and open trenching to check for new growth.

Is it necessary to add a concrete or plastic barrier as well? Would love to hear other suggestions. That stand runs along a property line (was originally planted by my neighbor before we bought the house and now she hates it and us)

We did put in a fabric barrier several years ago on the other side of the yard to keep the bamboo of another neighbor out, but that did no good whatsoever.

Advice?

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Comments (3)

kentuck_8b
16 years ago
I have had no luck with any of the bamboo barriers that I purchased at bamboo nurseries.

I think that a trench, roughly 16 inches deep all around the grove would do.

You could fill it with mulch or something similar for ease of rhizome trimming. Trimming it a couple of times a year is all you would need to prune it.

Concrete would also do, if you have it thick enough and reinforced.

Good Luck

Kt
suprdude
16 years ago
When properly installed, polypropylene bamboo barriers are 100% effective. The only time mine mine didn't work was when I didn't overlap the two pieces enough. Concrete would probably work but it will eventually crack. Polypropylene barriers are MUCH cheaper and easier to install.
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kentuck_8b
16 years ago
My polypropylene bamboo barriers all failed. If you do decide to install them, I would recommend installing them at a slant, leaning outward from the clump area. My Henon was the first to breach the barrier. It split the side and ran rampant for a year before I found out. By then, it was all over my yard.

Since then, it has split the barrier in over a dozen places.

I have six polypropylene barriers, and all have failed. I purchased the heaviest that thay make and purchased from two different nurseries and at different times.

Three contained areas are approximately 10' X 27' and the other three are just a bit smaller.

Bamboos that tore holes through the barriers are, P. nigra, Pseudosasa amabilis, S. yashadake 'Kimmei', P. bambusoides 'Castillon', P. nigra 'Henon', P. bambusoides/P. vivax.

The Henon ripped through the side in it's third season. The rest soon after...

Sandy soil here may have been a problem. I am not sure if soil makes a difference, but they did fail.

One other thing, most of these bamboos really do well here and grow really fast. The high heat and high humidity, along with mild Winters, makes it a bamboo growing paradise, so this may also play into the failure of the barriers.

Good Luck with whatever you choose.

Kt

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