Hi chuck, I haven't been in this forum for awhile and saw your post. I grow lots of blue fescue (60 plants this year) from seed every year with no problems. I don't bother with the light system, they don't seem to need it. I just sow in plastic dixie cups in a west facing window in February bottom water and plastic cover over them till they germinate. I am planning on sowing some soon because I get so busy doing other sowings in the spring. My plan for sowing now is to do the same method, but place the containers in filtered light, not the hot summer light.

Sporobolus wrightii also called Giant Sacaton. You can buy seeds from Plants of the Southwest. Its a large grass that needs the space of a shrub. The plumes come early & look fantastic backlit. Its very drought hardy. It will take about 3 years to get good sized plants from seed however. Bamboo is extremely invasive. I would never plant the running kind, your neighbors will end up hating you. Unless you are prepared to dig a suitably strong & deep barrier all around it, don't plant it.

Most grasses will germinate with one or two blades, but will quickly, during the first growing season, expand the number of blades. You should sow more than one seed in each cell, or to each square inch of an open seed flat. Check the web for specific instructions on the number of seeds per cell for the varieties of grass you are sowing. Jelitto, linked below, is one source for such information. If I can't find appropriate information, I use the ultimate width of the grass blade as a guide. If it's a fine-bladed grass, I sow more seeds per cell, and if it's a wide-bladed grass, fewer seeds. When I grow grass from seed, I transplant the small seedling clumps to nursery pots, usually 4" or 1 quart pots, to grow them on for at least the first season. Then they go into nursery beds for at least another growing season, before eventually being moved to display beds as almost mature plants. What grasses are you sowing? Here is a link that might be useful: Jelitto

You don't say where you are but Plants of the Southwest has seed for Giant Sacaton which is a drought hardy desert type of grass native to the SW but will grow elsewhere. I grew several from seed a few years ago, they came up easy. Its a large very ornamental grass, takes 2 years to reach substantial size. By year 3 they are mature. It puts up blooms in early summer that look fantastic lit by sun. Another really big one is Ravenna Grass, you can find seed online. There is one next door and if they don't trim it in early winter I end up pulling seedlings. Its pretty fast growing and gets big. For a screen you do need a big grass. The panicums (Switch Grass) are nice and upright but wouldn't block a view. There are several cultivars. Another is Big Muhly aka Muhlenbergia lindheimerii. A nice combination is Switchgrass with Little Bluestem planted in front. I've seen that around here and its stunning (if its full sun and not overly rich soil). Check out Santa Rosa Gardens. They sell 4" pots and have great sales on ornamental grasses in late spring and late fall. You might solve your $$ and view problem that way. Markdowns are as low as $3.99 or even $2.99 on whatever they have left over. These people are very reliable and safe to order from. I've ordered several grasses from them for years. You could work on the border in stages, that is what I am doing. With grasses except for a few exceptions, you nearly always end up with plenty of volunteers and can use them to create a swath of grass for free and maybe even add in some native flowering plants for a nice natural look. As a privacy screen, grass is a good idea but you do have to cut them down in late winter before new growth starts so there is always a down time as far as a screen is concerned and the labor. Other than that they are maintenance free.