Growing bamboo near salted roads?

[Snowbird]

Has anyone dealt with a cold hardy bamboo that will grow well in a park strip (between road and sidewalk) where salt/sand plow trucks come by in the winter?
Is this a bad idea due to the salt?

--seth
zone 6b-6a slc, ut

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Seth,
Firstly I should mention the unusual characteristic of bamboo being it's ability to stay evergreen in below freezing temperatures.
This characteristic of course depends on the species, minimum temperature and duration of cold and intensity of wind, or wind chill factor.
As such, evergreen bamboos, regardless of salt spray, will exhibit varying degrees of tattered and desiccated leaves during the height or end of the winter season depending on what it had to endure.
And what makes bamboo so unique is that if the weather wasn't too harsh, come spring the older leaves are replaced by new leaves growing from dormant buds on the side branches.

So back to your question of salt tolerance, I think this will depend on whether it is a high traffic area. In other words, if it is a busy road with a lot of salt spray in the air from passing traffic, this might cause the leaves to desiccate faster.
If it is just the road or sidwalk snow placed on the (frozen) beds, the salt is mostly diluted and dissipated as run-off.

However another thing to take into consideration with bamboo planted near walkways and roads is it's ability to be 'flexible' in times of stress, which can lead to the culms flopping over from snow loads and blocking access paths etc.
One can plan around this problem by keeping the planting at a good distance from roads or pathways, or by bending the culms down ahead of time in a direction that they won't create a problem, or by planting lower growing bamboos.

Mark

[Snowbird]

the road is just a neighborhood road w/ maybe 20 houses on it. it is relatively quiet but the plows do tend to throw salt and push snow close to the area. i am hoping the raised planter will help deflect some of that as well. the bamboo i have selected for this area are two 1 gallon fargesia robusta 'pingwu'. they will be used as accents take the place of two large dying maples i cut down. i chose the 'pingwu' over 'wolong' because it is slightly more cold hardy and has a more upright growth habit than 'wolong'. that is important both for looks and because it is close to the sidewalk and parking area of the road.

thanks again for the help.

--seth