No worries, AE! I've been "raising cane" since 1997. The most work is around late April through late June, when I harvest out shoots before they can get out of bounds (all of the Phyllostachys are edible, so I enjoy lots of stir fry and other 'boo shoot apps) and also thin out the culms. Culms/canes that are over 2 years old make great material for fences, crafts and garden beanpoles and stakes. I have been able to keep running species confined to a 116'x60' lot for 15 years. It just takes a little monitoring and maintenance during that brief spring time when they send out their shoots. Once you lop a shoot, it stops the advancement of the rhizome from which it sprouted.
If I see any "porpoising" rhizomes or shoot that are popping up away from where I want the grove to reach, I cut the rhizomes and the shoots.
Running species I currently have (all are more than 5 years old, some are closer to 15):
Arundinaria gigantea tecta
Indocalamus tesselatus
Phyllostachys nuda (best shoots for eating I've ever tasted)
P. nigra
P. bissetii
P. bissetii dwarf form
P. rubromarginata
Pleioblasus viridistriatus
Pl. distichus 'mini;
Pl. purpurescens
Pl. albostriatus 'Kinkazan'
Pl. simonii
Pseudosasa japonica
Sasa palmata
Sasa veitchii
Sasa unknown (really, I just plain forgot the species and cultivar!)
Sasaella masamuneana 'Albostriata'
Semiarundinaria fastuosa 'Viridis'
Shibataea kumasaca
Then I have a collection of various Fargesias, though my old-generation F. murielae flowered and died over a 4-year period that completed last year. Fargesias typically live for 80-120 years or so, and even clones will flower and die at around the same time the parent plant would have. My speciman was a clone of plants that grew from seeds collected in the late 1800s, and was my first bamboo back in 1997. Sad to see it go, but now there is space for something else.
There are other species growing in the garden but I can't think of them at this moment, and indoors I have a couple of tropical species (a Bambusa and a Drepanostachys). Can you tell I'm a 'boo freak?
If I see any "porpoising" rhizomes or shoot that are popping up away from where I want the grove to reach, I cut the rhizomes and the shoots.
Running species I currently have (all are more than 5 years old, some are closer to 15):
Arundinaria gigantea tecta
Indocalamus tesselatus
Phyllostachys nuda (best shoots for eating I've ever tasted)
P. nigra
P. bissetii
P. bissetii dwarf form
P. rubromarginata
Pleioblasus viridistriatus
Pl. distichus 'mini;
Pl. purpurescens
Pl. albostriatus 'Kinkazan'
Pl. simonii
Pseudosasa japonica
Sasa palmata
Sasa veitchii
Sasa unknown (really, I just plain forgot the species and cultivar!)
Sasaella masamuneana 'Albostriata'
Semiarundinaria fastuosa 'Viridis'
Shibataea kumasaca
Then I have a collection of various Fargesias, though my old-generation F. murielae flowered and died over a 4-year period that completed last year. Fargesias typically live for 80-120 years or so, and even clones will flower and die at around the same time the parent plant would have. My speciman was a clone of plants that grew from seeds collected in the late 1800s, and was my first bamboo back in 1997. Sad to see it go, but now there is space for something else.
There are other species growing in the garden but I can't think of them at this moment, and indoors I have a couple of tropical species (a Bambusa and a Drepanostachys). Can you tell I'm a 'boo freak?
Be careful with bamboo of that genus -- they are "running" species, and unless you have a large area planned for them, they can become overwhelming in their spread. If you like the idea of a low-density spreading grove, choose "running" species. If you want tighter specimen- or hedge-plantings, choose "clumping" species. I was looking into bamboo while thinking about what plants would work for me in south Florida in a few years, and I came upon many species that work well in the warmer parts of the country and aren't as spreading -- unless that's what you want.
