The grass won't slow it down at all. I prefer to keep the grass out of my groves personally. Well I'm sure they do a little better with no grass but it's still going to grow like crazy with it there or not.

Rhizomes can grow 5-10 feet in a season. With ample water they go farther than with little water. I buy my bamboo barrier from Lewis bamboo online. $2.00 a foot, free shipping.

Typically bamboo stays in the top 2 feet of soil. So it's not like it goes that deep to start with, I'd imagine it's the same with a lot of water or little water. But I'm just guessing on that.

Thanks for the reply tcameronk, I have been reading on methods to control a grove of runners. I see that simply taking out some new shoots each spring, and possibly fall, is enough to keep it under control. I have always wanted to try fresh Bamboo shoots with broccoli etc in a stir fry, I love chinese food, I must've been chinese in another life, kinda joking there, but, I can eat chinese food every day no problem. But, anyhoo, I have done lots of searches, and I see that I can likely take a couple years before I add a barrier, with the groves area that I will keep (or try to keep it in) being quite generous. I am also hoping that the Phyllostachys Atrovaginata will get at LEAST 1 inch CULMS. I would like to be able to use them to make fence sections or gates for landscaping, not for a purpose that they need be really strong, just for looks really. Maybe a fence that doesn't keep any animals in, but, just for looks. This will be my first running Bamboo, ( Phyllostachys Atrovaginata), I will be returning my Arundinaria Gigantea, most likely. It really doesn't show off it's culms, and the culms I had seen in pics weren't very thick.

You shouldn't have any problems getting bigger than 1 inch culms in your zone. They should get bigger than that.

If it's an open area it's pretty easy to keep bamboo where you want it with no barrier. Eat any extra shoots, or just kick them over and they stop growing, or mow around the area. It only becomes a problem if say it get's under a neighbors fence, or some place hard to reach or get into. If you have decent size open area you should be fine.

Yes, It will be far from a neighbors yard. I have a question that may seem stupid, but, here goes, do each of the culms reach their maximum diameter when they emerge from the soil? In other words lets say a new culm /shoot is coming up. It is about 2 1/2 inches wide coming up from the ground. So will this culm get only 2 1/2 inches wide when the culm is "mature"? Or will it get bigger if left in place the whole year of growth or (til Fall?) I am guessing the shoot will be just as thick as the mature culm will be, am I right?

poaky-
Kicking over the new shoots will prevent the culm from growing, but it does nothing to stop the spread of the rhizomes underground. If that is your method of controlling bamboo, after 5-10 years you will likely have an octopus-like network of underground rhizomes that could interfere with other plantings and move great distances...like your neighbor's yard. If you want to control a running bamboo, you will need a physical barrier.

As for the rhizome characteristics, I've grown over 80 kinds of bamboo, and the only ones that don't have strong, woody rhizomes are the dwarf varieties. The presence of water or the composition of the soil will have no effect on the rhizome characteristics of your Ph. atrovaginata.

The rhizomes will only go so far with no support or energy coming from culms. Kicking them over is the same as mowing which works very well for control. There will still be some rhizomes underneath yes. But they will only extend out so far with no support above to feed them. And will only go a certain distance from the main grove. With enough of a buffer zone it's fine. Or open area. But yes if the entire grove is to close to anything else he'll need a barrier. Sounds like he has room for that though for now.

tcameronk-
I think we may have to agree to disagree on this issue. I have had rhizomes go 30' before putting up a shoot, and when I dug up the new culms the rhizome had gone even further. If the rhizome is still connected to the main clump, it gets the energy it needs. And even if it has been severed from the main plant, it can have enough energy to put out more shoots if it has established itself in the ground (6-12 months),. I'm not saying that kicking over the shoots will have no effect, but I am saying that I don't consider it a practical, long-term strategy. And if it fails, you end up with a yard full of rhizomes, and possible intrusions into neighboring properties. I use barrier for some of my bamboo and I do rhizome pruning for others. The latter process, however means always being on the alert. And I have had some unhappy experiences where the rhizomes have made long bumps in my asphalt driveway, invaded flower beds and disrupted plantings, produced such a network of underground roots that it is hard to plant anything else in the area, or has affected the growth of other plants. I love bamboo, but I think it's necessary to be more pro-active in controlling it than just kicking over shoots.

Thanks for the replies, I am not sure which of the 2 scenarios to go with, my Phyll. Atrovag. is planted in wet/moist soil. I just got it and planted it yesterday. I may have asked this already, but here goes, Stevelau, is your soil sandy or normal rich soil? I have good soil with lots of little stones in it. It is hard to dig a hole without encountering a bunch of stones, some small some med, and some large ones. I am sure you have lots of expereince with boos, as does Kudzu and tcameronk, but I wonder if they (rhizomes) are easy to dig up in a rich but stony soil? That is apposed to a sandy or less rocky soil. I can't afford barrier now, but, don't want something that will spread 30 ft underground, if that is really possible to happen, even when you remove new culms. I do want to know if the Phyll. Atrovaginata is likely to get 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide culms? If it's likely they won't I may just plant it in a huge pot, if that is possible.

I am sorry, I saw the answer about getting inch or more thickness in culms, they grow up from the rhizomes already as thick as they are going to get, they get no thicker than the size they are after all the culm is unfurled, right?

I agree with Steve, I hate the barriers. I much prefer to allow the boos to do their thing and I then I just remove, move, knock down or leave the new shoots as they appear. Sometimes its a problem as I have a huge amount of Madake in my yard that has spread so wildly that it will literally be underneath another planting of say a tropical bamboo and its a little annoying having to remove those ones so the other plant doesnt get snuffed out. but in contrast, the barrier changes how the plant grows. if you make a circle or an oval of barrier and put your running bamboo in there, the rhizomes will keep reaching around and around and you end up with a woven net of rhizomes in a donut shape around the inside of the barrier. Much more difficult to remove...

I tried to do without barriers for many years, but I have reluctantly installed some on about half of my 80 or so bamboo plantings. At first I was able to control my runners pretty well with rhizome pruning, but as they have gotten more mature over the last 12 years at my present location, they have started putting out larger and more aggressive rhizomes that travel farther. I have a large yard that is densely populated with a wide variety of other plants and I have gotten tired of dealing with 20 foot long rhizomes that come up in the middle of my daylilies, my rhododendrons, my maple trees, other clumps of bamboo, on the other side of concrete patios, and under asphalt driveways. It's one thing if you have fairly soft soil and rhizome prune religiously; however, I have clay and glacial till that is hard to dig up and remove rhizomes from. I have fairly large diameter barrier installations, and I have yet to notice any negative effects on the contained bamboo.

I have planted my Atrovaginata in a giant tire, it is going to be confined to a small area, the tire is about 5 feet wide, but I want to get a barrier or giant water trough to move it to. The trough that is the biggest made, with potting soil in it. I have good soil (loam) but it has a gazzilion rocks in it. You can't dig down a foot without encountering a bunch of rocks.

I would counsel dispensing with the tire and using just barrier. Over time, the bamboo will send rhizomes into the inside of the tire and this will complicate making any divisions. Barrier works fine, but you will ultimately want to thin and remove rhizomes as the bamboo expands to fill the containment area after a number of years. In addition, bamboo is healthiest when it is in the ground, and not in some aboveground container. If you plant it in the container, it will also become locked in; thinning or removal from the container would be a nightmare. Trust me on this...I have experience with trying to help people remove bamboo from rigid containers. In the long run, the simplest, most effective, and most economical way to do this is to trench down and install proper barrier.

I will need to have machinery come in to dig the trench likely with all the rocks in my soil, plus the cost to purchase and ship the barrier. I think the tiny boo division that I have can stay put until I can afford the barrier purchase and my neighbor to come with his machinery to dig a trench. I want the boo, but I have mostly trees in my yard and prefer it that way, I want the boo under control. I can see your point Kudzu but I will need to take a while to afford the barrier, I have a neighbor who will hopefully be able to dig the trench. I am gonna need a while to get barrier installed. I wish I had sandy soil. I am still afraid to let it grow in the ground, even with barrier. No need for reassurance, it's just me, I will be afraid to let it grow inground until I have seen a super great barrier already installed.

You don't need machinery. I also have extremely rocky, hard pan soil, and I use a pickaxe to dig a narrow ditch about 20"-24" deep, which takes about an hour. You can get barrier for about $2/running foot, delivered. You've read too many urban horror stories about running bamboo: it won't eat your cat or damage your foundation or plumbing, even if uncontained. I have about 80 varieties of bamboo, and about half have barrier, and the other half I manage through rhizome pruning. In over 10 years I have yet to see a barrier get breached. And even if it did get breached, so what? You spend 10 minutes digging out the rhizome and you are done. If you are that worried, maybe bamboo isn't something you should plant.

I was thinking also that maybe I should stick to clumpers, but, I think I will try to start a trench and if it gets too hard for me, I will just keep the Atrovaginata contained until it dies. I don't know of any place local to me that has bamboo barrier. I am in a little town in Pa about 35 minutes from Morgantown Wv. Pittsburgh is about 50-60 miles from me. I really can't afford to put out lots of money. Just asking, if my bamboo is in a wet area would it have shallower roots? If I could grow a large culmed clumper I would, I have Fargesia Rufa Campbell. I think you've given me lots of info, I will try the ditch digging and if it's easy I will eventually get the barrier, if it is too hard for me I'll just not plant it in my yard. Poaky1

Poaky-

Good luck with your digging...I hope it is doable for you. As for getting bamboo barrier, I always order mine online as it is cheaper than my local bamboo nurseries. In my experience, the best deal I have found is from Lewis Bamboo as they charge $2/linear foot for 60 mil, 24" barrier, of any length, and shipping is free. For example, you can get a 20' long length for $40, and that would be enough for a 6' diameter enclosure with about a foot of overlap for the ends.

Lewis Bamboo barrier

Thanks for the refer Kudzu Poaky1