Bamboo Screen

Discussion in 'Garden Design and Plant Suggestions' started by kotybc40, Feb 11, 2008.

  1. kotybc40

    kotybc40 Member

    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Courtenay, B.C.
    Thanks Debby. I like this idea and will see what I can find.
     
  2. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

    Messages:
    162
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada
    You can get Bamboo plants of several varieties locally here (Courtenay area) from a place on the highway heading North out of Courtenay on the island highway. I don't know if it even has a name, it's one small greenhouse on the left side of the highway north of town but south of the country market. They have a sign I think advertising rocks for landscaping and there may be a bamboo sign up, not sure. They had about 50+ different bamboos in pots in the greenhouse last summer, all sorts.

    You can also order from here http://www.bambooworld.com/bamboo catalogue.htm
    for delivery to this area, we have about 20 coming in April from them and they were very good to deal with and at least have a look at thier site to see the varieties etc so you have a rough idea what you're looking for even if you don't need to order from them.

    For what you describe we have a similar situation on one side of our property and we've planted some Fargesias, they are clumping so they won't ever run away on you and they grow very fast in the 3rd year after planting, nothing short of a physical wall will give you coverage faster. You didn't mention how high they need to be, you might want to consider that, maybe go out and use a pole to determine the minimum height you need for it to do any good so you can be sure to get the right type of plant.

    If you're very serious about this you might want to consider planting some western red cedars on the outside, then the fargesias or other bamboo on the inside and between the two you will get some pretty solid coverage as well as insurance if one or the other isn't happy in the long run (we also have areas where we planted Laurels in between the cedars and the bamboo for extra coverage but we have acres and want absolute privacy and as much sound blockage as possible).
     
  3. kotybc40

    kotybc40 Member

    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Courtenay, B.C.
    Thank you so much J. I'm certainly going to check our that place on the left going out of town b/4 country store. I don't have 3 years to wait because I'm selling my home and the lack of privacy has been the only complaint I'm received. Thanks again. I really like this website.
    Koty
     
  4. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

    Messages:
    162
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada
    Well then bamboo is out, you need an instant screen.

    I'd recommend you go to a place like that one behind Walmart, I think it's called Riverside Nursery, they sell large trees and shrubs (they have a big field behind with thousands of plants and many varieties, all quite large) that you can get delivered, i.e. perhaps a bunch of 8 or 10 foot cedars for hedging or something, we did that as well with one area on our property.

    Even if they don't *quite* reach up enough for immediate coverage, prospective buyers can see that it will give them privacy in the future.

    If you're selling your home and *need* to do this it's worth the investment, but consider it carefully, a lot of these types of landscaping improvements really don't matter to the buyer in the end, we've bought and sold a few times and an honest realtor (nahh..too easy to make a joke here) will tell you that, and you're out the money for no return.

    The sad part is the *value* is usually in the square feet of the house and size of the property and the prices the neighboring houses have sold for the rest no matter how beautiful you landscape it is just how quickly and how high you can push the price above average. It's easy to waste a lot of money for no return if you're not careful.

    When we were shopping for a house before we bought this one, we looked at a place outside of town where a guy had literally built what looked like a giant blank green billboard on 15 foot posts to screen a neighboring house's top deck. It made for a memorable place, we had all sorts of theories as to why he did this but probably just for privacy.
     
  5. kotybc40

    kotybc40 Member

    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Courtenay, B.C.
    Thands again J for the great advice.
    Koty
     

Share This Page