P.Nigra Rhizome/Root System Control Question

[Lot 112]

In October of 2008 I planted a Phyllostachys Nigra in my garden; the plant was in a 15 gallon pot. When I started the plant the tallest culm was 55” inches. On March 19th 2009 the plant began sending up shoots, during the 2009 growing season the plant sent up several shoots & doubled in size, the tallest culm being 57” inches.

On March 26th 2010 the plant started sending up shoots. This morning I noticed that shoot appeared in excess of 2ft from the plant. I'm concerned because the plant is adjacent to a walkway & I've read that running bamboo has a tendency to damage concrete paths, driveways etc.

I did not install a barrier when I initially planted the Nigra plant because I read that if you are vigilant & monitor the plant you will see rhizomes as the appear. I've seen a few rhizomes & pruned them that’s why I was taken by surprise when I noticed the shoot so far from the plant.

Ironically this shoot is larger in diameter than the three shoots that have appeared @ the base of the existing plant.

The plant's roots system seems to have spread out several feet from the plant in all directions.

If I install a root barrier @ this point will it control the spread of the plants root system as well the rhizomes?

[kstanwick]

Hi, been a while since i've been on the forum. I am going to say yes....I have seen some pics where it will shoot thru macadam.....yikes....probably not too late to put in a barrier. I have also seen pics of bamboo do foundation damage. i live in a colder climate and have yet to see any of my boos spread out of control. I do have a robert young i think is a dwarf variety that seems to run as fast a little kid....but i control it by mowing the shoots....Hope this helps. there are plenty of people in here that have lots of knowledge. best to get advice from people growing in your similar climate. Looking again at the pics and further reading....I'd say that area you planted that boo will fill in that area fairly quickly. my black barely makes it thru the winter and have yet to see anything over 4/5 ft tall....don't you just hate it when your biggest shoot is in a spot you don't want it?? Kurt

[stevelau1911]

I hope some of my bamboos make shoots 3ft away. Up here in the north it never gets warm enough to cause rhizomes to cover a good distance so my less aggressive running bamboos will grow in a clumping nature. I did however install a 2.5ft deep rhizome barrier on my Bissetii to keep it from mixing with my atrovaginata and it seems like it deflects all the rhizomes that hit it upwards to make whip shoots, so yes it works.

Just keep in mind that if you do install a barrier, you may be limiting the potential size of your culms since there will be less room for the rhizomes to roam, so it may be better to let it grow a bunch of rhizomes under those concrete slabs, and mow down the shoots that come up the other side. It looks like you have some high quality concrete so I doubt shoots can penetrate something that solid.

If you are in LA, you could of purchased a tropical clumper such as bambusa lako instead which would have a clumping nature, and no running concens.

[Alan_L]

Your rhizome pruning idea is right, but you need to be a little more aggressive with it. It sounds like you were pruning rhizomes that you saw at or just below the soil surface, but they can be 12" or more deep. You can take a sharp spade and cut all around the plant at the line that you don't want the bamboo to cross. That will sever any rhizomes, and the detached parts will die (unless you let them put out shoots and leaves). You'll have to do this a couple of times a year, and don't skip a year.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the bamboo breaking the concrete, but I'd be more concerned about it traveling under the sidewalk and spreading to the other parts of the yard. Rhizome pruning will prevent this.

[moriphen]

Dare I ask what that square plate behind the bamboo goes too?

M

[GrowingHabit]

Having grown Ph. nigra for 4 years now, I'd say that's probably not the best location for one, unless you want to struggle with it on a regular basis. Its my guess that it will make fine mince out of those bricks in no time- or you will, trying to get to it to cut it back. My nigra has breached our asphalt driveway repeatedly. Its tilted huge granite boulders. I have zero faith in any barrier short of plate steel containing it. Its a beast. I love it, but its a beast.

[Lot 112]

Ironically initally I had wanted to plant Bambusa Lako in that spot but local growers ask a fortune for Bambusa Lako.

Do you think I would be better of with a clumper in that location? I also considered Bambusa Vulgaris Vittata which I've grown rather fond of lately. Another variety I considered was Himalayacalamus hookerianus(Himalayan Blue).

I chose P.Nigra because of it was similar in appearance to Bambusa Lako & I read that P.Nigra behaved like a clumper & was the least invasive of the running varieties. The more research you do the more conflicting information you receive.

Should I replace my Nigra with a clumping variety due to the confines of the space where I've planted it or will a barrier & root pruning be effective?

How effective is the sand trap method?

[Alan_L]

Sounds like another vote for rhizome pruning.

[GrowingHabit]

If it were me, I'd take out the nigra and put in a clumping bamboo, in the bed in question. Rhizomes escape even total obsessive diligence- which is why culms are able to shoot up through my driveway. In my situation, the driveway is the only restricted edge of my Ph. nigra grove, and that's the direction it most strongly insists on going. I suspect it likes the heat, but that's only a guess.

[ghmerrill]

I personally would say you have a great area there for growing the Nigra, BUT! its going to require you to rhiozme prune with a shovel, like Alan mentiond above. you are going to want to go back from the edge of your walkway/brickwork, and the building by a couple of feet, and imagine that is a line you dont want anything passing. starting in July, once a month until the end of October, use the shovel method. you should have no problems at all... however, if you let it go, like Growinghabit said- you are asking for a mess, as it will run for the concrete, and probably end up with bits coming through the concrete in weak places, or out the other side.

Me personally, I would leave it there- I can imagine a nice 20 or 30' tall stand of black there, and it would be spectacular, but you are going to have to commit to some work on it to keep it from causing you problems in the future.

on your idea of putting a clumper there- some of the tropicals should do fine, if you decide to take it out. I dont belive H. hookerianus would make it at all. that area looks pretty exposed, and it looks like it gets lots of sun. might be different down there, but up here, H. hookerianus does best in dappled sun- full sun in the summer fries it, and it does not respond well to being exposed to lots of wind and the full force of the weather.... its a beauty, but in my limited expirence with it, I have had to baby it. Perhaps if Fred catches this thread, he can give a bit more of an idea on it, he has been growing it longer than I.

[tomgun]

I would dig a ditch around the bamboo, as close to 12" as you can. Then put more dirt in the middle, so the bamboo is growing on a mound. That will increase the amount of land the bamboo is on without making it wider. Water up on the mound or in the middle, not in the ditches. Use the ditches for rhizome pruning.

Putting 60 mil barrier around would also help, if you could go down 30". Undulate it so the circling rhizomes will head back into the center.

Also, it may just be too young, but that doesn't look like a nigra shoot. Nigra, Henon, Megurochiku, Shimadake (I think), and Bory are all in the Nigra family and have similar, distinctive shoots.

Tom

[Alan_L]

Undulate it so the circling rhizomes will head back into the center.

That's a great tip! I've never heard that before, but it really makes sense!

Also, it may just be too young, but that doesn't look like a nigra shoot.

Here's the first shoot from my definitely still juvenile nigra last year, so I agree that it doesn't look like a nigra shoot. Is it a rhizome/whipshoot?

[Lot 112]

Here's a photo of this season's first shoots.


Do they look like P.Nigra shoots?

[tomgun]

Yes, they definitely do. I guess whip shoots look different. I'd a never thunk it.