Need info re: clumping bamboo for privacy

[Donna]

Yep; another Newbie in search of the right starting point! :rolleyes: Have bought a home in the Southern most region of Alabama; near the Florida State line (zone 8B).

Not on the water; but very close. I've always dreamed of a tropical or sub-tropical landscape & this is the closest I've come yet!

I've planted Jacksonian palms that I thought were house plants that now are 8 feet tall (in less than 3 years) despite Hurricane Ivan's visit & :p transplanting them without a lick of knowledge about the proceedure.

Now 23 roses later, 15 Hibiscus, 1 Oleander, 1 Black Mission Fig tree, 1 Apache thornless blackberry, 2 blueberries, 2 Meyer lemon trees, 2 Confederate Jasmines, a ton of daylilies, Star Gazers, Spider Wort, 3 White Pampas Grass, & a few odds n ends later.....I discover I need some privacy from the neighbors. This is where my love for Bamboo comes in; but not much knowledge re: same.

I've heard some of the horrors of aggresive bamboo, admire the beauty of the canes & their greenery. I have 10-12 foot side yards that are in need of privacy & then across the back of the lot which is about 75 ft wide. I guess I need clumping form of bamboo that needn't get wider than 3-5 ft at ground level & would like them to get between 8-15 ft tall. What is Heavenly Bamboo; is there a variety that's sort of plum in color?

Once I can gather up the knowledge I need to search for the proper variety; I'll need a resonably priced resource to purchase them from.

Please point me in the right direction & hopefully, I won't be so wordy next time. Thanks everyone, Donna

[tharlow]

The height is probably in the range you want, and if not you can always top off. Afterall these are called hedge bamboo. The base will eventually grow beyond the size you mentioned, but they are tight clumplers that will not surprise you with shoots far from the mother clump. The unknown for me is how cold your climate is and whether they will do well there. However these are probably the most cold tolerant clumpers you'll find. So I'm pretty sure they would probably make it there.

Here's a link to the bambusa genus (see Bambusa multiplex and its variants).
http://www.tropicalbamboo.org/bambusa.htm

Of the group I like Alphonse Karr the best.

http://www.tropicalbamboo.org/subspecies/Bambusa/bmultiplex_alphonse.htm

Good Luck!

Tom

BTW, Heavenly is not bamboo (try a google on it)

[Despotate of bamboo]

I agree with the above poster about the viability of the Alphonse Karr type. If the temperatures do not drop below 15 degrees a Bambusa Multiplex "Alphonse Karr" should be able to survive without much damage. I have one in an 8B nearly 9A) climate and it survived 18 degrees (15 with windchill) with only very minor leaf burn. Sometimes shoots are damaged by the cold though. The January of 2005 was unusually cold for this area. The Alphonse Karr has not been in yard for even one year so it will probably become somewhat hardier as it develops more (currently about 8 feet with 20 culms or so). Bambusa Textilis also is somewhat tolerant of mild winter weather (minimum temperature is about 13 degrees). Alphonse Karr has about 12 degree minimum temperature.

There are open clumpers (Chusquea Gigantea and most or all the Yushania genus) that can survive to about 0-5 degrees however these would spread out more than the tight clumpers.