Bambusa arnhemica?? although can get to 10m..

Regards, Ari :)

I have Bambusa oldhamii across my back fence, trying to get to the 18mts it grows to hide the double story house at the back.

There a native one but I dont know its name, my neighbour has a lovely fine bushy one its about 2mts, have a look at the link below plenty on it with the height you are after, just look up their Catalogue. Another site is www.bambooworld.com.au

MM.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bambooland

Ari and MM,

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm afraid that I dont have the room for Arnhemica (the other two native varieties seem equally out of place in a suburban garden, from the photos I've seen ). I followed MM's suggestion and paid $25 for a 200mm pot of B. Oldhamii : even though the height on the tag reads '12m', I was assured that it will only grow to half that size in my garden.

Reading the handy liftout that came with the plant (Tropicals Rockhampton (or 'The Flower Box') on Richardson Road), it seems well suited to life adjacent to my palms - if anything, it looks like the bamboo needs even more fertiliser and moisture. Probably the total antithesis of what I'm trying to achieve in my predominately native garden, but I am determined that my tropical 'room' will have the right feel to it - c'est la vie.

Cheers,

Artie

native ones are B.forbesii, B.moreheadiana (climber), B.arnhemica and Schizostachyum sp. 'Murray Island'

I have all but B.arnhemica, Ari !!! how are you going?

All species but B.moreheadiana are clumping.

B.forbesii is very attractive with large broad leaves-most tropical of the four.

S.sp Murray Island is very compact and surprisingly tolerates cold, even when it originates from the Torres Strait! It is forms a dense clump and is best in the tropics and subtropics.

from Kris

Artie I only water mine once a week, but I do feed them with Lawn food every six weeks, and dont expect a real lot of growth from them in the first season as it take a year sometimes longer for them to settle in.

MM.

A couple of the smaller bamboos that I am growing are Gigantochloa luteostriata (South Kalimantan) which has a very dense habit and grows to around 5 to 6 metres and the old favourite Bambusa vulgaris 'Wamin' Buddha's Belly bamboo. Mine too only get watered about once a week but will survive on less.

Andrew.

Thanks for the feedback everyone - much appreciated.

Mine had a very constricted rootball when I took it out of the pot - I dont know much about bamboo, but I couldnt leave it in that state, so I did my best to loosen some of the main roots so that they could get out into the soil. Time will tell if I have done the right thing.

At the end of September I decided I wanted more bamboo's so I watered mine for a couple of days then tried to dig one of them up a bit so I could seperate a couple of stems, I manages Ok then got greedy and wanted another one.

It proved too hard for me so I got my hubby to help and between the two of us and a huge crowbar we managed to seperate another stem, and those and the parent plant that we took them from are coming along fine and 9 weeks later they are covered in green leaves so I reckon they will be ok just keep the water up to them for a few weeks. Here is a Pic of the off shoot its the thin one in the middle and is 7ft tall.

MM.
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Fantastic effort, MM - I dream of the day when my bamboo takes off like the more mature clumps on either side of the new addition.

Horganics have a lovely range of non-invasive clumping bamboos, give them a call 0400-230460 or try their web site www.horganics.com.au

Funny moment on the weekend - had some people over, and one of them spotted the B.Oldhamii. He said 'You are a very brave man, planting that !', and didnt seem entirely convinced when I told him that there *are* non-invasive bamboos available.

Perception is a hard thing to shake, and I can relate to his fears : I disposed of my young Crepe Myrtle on the weekend after reading that they sucker readily. If only I'd known that when I bought the thing 8 or so months ago.

Yes I know that feeling the Guy at the back nearly had a fit when he found out I was planting seven bamboo down the back of my block till I told him they were not running bamboo it took a while to convince him though.

MM.

Visit www.bamboo.org.au. many of the society member sites have good photos and lots of advice.

I like 'Sacred Bali' (Schizostachyzum brachycladum) for its butter yellow semi translucent culms, however due to the thin walls of the culms it is not a strong enough for use as a wind break. Timor Black (Bambusa Lako), Slender Weavers are also very nice.

Scott

Scott