I don't know much about bamboo. I want to use it for privacy and some shade. I am looking for a bamboo with at least 2" culms that are showy and a plant that grows at least 30' tall that has a hanging tendency at the top. I would prefer something that is not going to take over. I want it in several areas of the yard in two clumps of 6'X 2' and a clump of 4' x 4'. I am in hardy zone 8 Abbotsford, BC. Perhaps it would be best to have a variety that is hardy in Zone 7, not 8 though as I don't want to lose it if I have a very harsh winter for this area. Thank you. Steph.
2" culms and 30' high in abbotsford, i would recommend Phyllostachys bambusoides. If you want to contain it, you will need to use root barrier and do some maintenance. Look at the thread i started in this section about digging big bamboo, thats the stuff. ;)
The common so-called timber bamboo here is P. vivax. It produces large leaves in conspicuous plumes that bend at the top, and thick rich green culms with contrasting whitish bands of powder at the nodes. P. bambusoides is not as spectacular and is prone to aphids. It does have thick-walled culms suitable for use as wood. P. vivax has thin-walled culms.
I would worry about vivax breaking with snow, even bambusoides will break here, but vivax will be much worse.
P. dulcis has relatively thick culms (3") on a plant that tops out around 30-35'. Haven`t grown it long enough to attest to culm strength under snow load.
I live in abbotsford too, we get enough snow to snap bamboo. Mostly because its wet and heavy and sticks to all the leaves.
I think maybe it would not be the normal snowfall that you get, which is fairly light. But, rather the exceptional one. Many years we get no snow at all here. But on January 8th, 2005, we had a freak heavy, very wet snowfall which broke 3000 trees on the island. I don't know if any bamboo could have stood up to that. 100' fir trees and 80' arbutus were no match for that snow. One thing you can do while it is snowing, is to periodically shake the plants to minimize snow build up if possible. Every snowfall we have had since then I make sure I shake off the acer palmatums as well.
