What a useful and helpful sight this is proving to be - I'm so glad I've discovered it! I"m looking for suggestions for a narrow hedge on the N side of my house. My son is going to do the work and is very keen on non-invasive bamboo hedgeing. He is going to build a long planter box, approx. 2' high and 18" deep but with no bottom so that the plants can root right down into the ground. I'm a little hesitant about the bamboo. A neighbour down the street has a bamboo hedge that looks OK but I'm wondering about ease of maintenance. Thanks again for any suggestions. Jocelyn
Choose a Fargesia species, these are dainty, shade-loving and do not run, rather having a compact rootstock rather like that of an iris. There is a dense, effective Fargesia hedge at the front of a property on the right as you drive onto the UBC Endowment Lands (or whatever they're called now, I don't live in Vancouver) on 41st, I think it is (the one that merges with Marine, which is what I take). It looks like somone took some bamboo stakes and threaded them through fencing, it is so compact and vertical. If you find yourself looking at Fargesia nitida (perhaps the most frequently offered species) in a nursery, be sure to verify that it is a new-generation seedling, as the clones prevalent in western cultivation up to this point have been maturing, flowering and dying off (something that is said to happen every 100 years or so).
Im unsure whether she will tolerate your winters, but I use bambusa textilis gracillus with great success. Slender weavers bamboo is well behaved and fast to establish. With any non invasive boo's periodic maintenance is req to reduce the clump size. It's back breaking work so I suggest you get some help, a very sharp axe and ensure you do the job in early spring. check out this site for the handy hints http://www.mrbamboo.com.au/bamboo_care/bamboo_care_map/bamboo_care_map.html
Fargesia or another Asian mountain species would be used instead of Bambusa in BC. Or put a running bamboo in the ground, with a root barrier, instead of in an above ground box - unless there are underground obstructions, including very poor soil. Try to come up with a box that will not rot or burst apart later, a likely scenario with wood.
