I was sold this as a fargesia, is it?

mpagri · Post by **mpagri** » Fri May 09, 2014 4:04 am

I was told that this fargesia bamboo took a beating over the winter but that it will bounce back. If it is a fargesia can anyone guess the species? If not, is it even a clumping type? Will it actually bounce back, it looks dead to me.

I can take pictures of more specific characteristics if you tell me what would help.

Thanks in advance.

Post by **needmore** » Fri May 09, 2014 12:30 pm

Welcome,

I have a low degree of confidence in this but I think it is not a Fargesia and not a clumping form, rather I suspect Pseudosasa japonica. The branching is suspect to me.

oobmab · Post by **oobmab** » Fri May 09, 2014 3:15 pm

needmore wrote:Welcome,

I have a low degree of confidence in this but I think it is not a Fargesia and not a clumping form, rather I suspect Pseudosasa japonica. The branching is suspect to me.

I don't know much, but I know what Japonica looks like. I have a high degree of confidence that you are right.

oobmab · Post by **oobmab** » Fri May 09, 2014 3:18 pm

mpagri wrote:I was told that this fargesia bamboo took a beating over the winter but that it will bounce back. If it is a fargesia can anyone guess the species? If not, is it even a clumping type? Will it actually bounce back, it looks dead to me.

I can take pictures of more specific characteristics if you tell me what would help.

Thanks in advance.

It has green leaves, so it is still alive. Expect it to send up new, (very) small shoots, and possibly new branches from its lowermost (ground level and below) nodes, or new branches on culms still having green leaves. When any existing culms turn completely brown, cut them down.

mpagri · Post by **mpagri** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:29 pm

Wow thanks for the replies. Someone else thought Pseudosasa japonica as well. It looks awesome IMO, but it is in very close proximity to my EPDM lined pond and a runner type might go through the liner.

The soil is very easy to dig in if I wanted to put in a root barrier but I don't have a meter of space for it. Also it might go under the wood filter pit? My research shows that it is not terribly invasive, though.

The "fargesia" was supposedly warrantied for 6 months, should I go back to the nursery and ask for an exchange, is it possible to control it so close to a pond? What are you opinions?

I could also raise it a bit and have a rhizome trench on the pond side, then would I harm it by replanting it? I see some tiny new shoots.

How would you guys proceed?

moriphen · Post by **moriphen** » Sat May 10, 2014 12:31 am

I'll climb along on the bandwagon here too, what branching/ leaf action I can see plus the persistent culm sheaths I'd wager it is a member of the Pseudosasa genus. P. Japonica being the most common of the Pseudosasa's makes it the best candidate.

dependable · Post by **dependable** » Sat May 10, 2014 10:47 am

P japonica is not the fastest runner, If you are willing to rhizome prune, or put in barrier, it can be an exotic looking plant. Does not lend itself to hedging due to predominance of leaves at top of culms when mature, but looks great in natural state.

If you choose to move it, it would do better if you wait until it is done shooting and leafing out, either later in summer or early fall.

oobmab · Post by **oobmab** » Sat May 10, 2014 1:18 pm

mpagri wrote:Wow thanks for the replies. Someone else thought Pseudosasa japonica as well. It looks awesome IMO, but it is in very close proximity to my EPDM lined pond and a runner type might go through the liner.

The soil is very easy to dig in if I wanted to put in a root barrier but I don't have a meter of space for it. Also it might go under the wood filter pit? My research shows that it is not terribly invasive, though.

The "fargesia" was supposedly warrantied for 6 months, should I go back to the nursery and ask for an exchange, is it possible to control it so close to a pond? What are you opinions?

I could also raise it a bit and have a rhizome trench on the pond side, then would I harm it by replanting it? I see some tiny new shoots.

How would you guys proceed?

If they sold it to you as fargesia, I'd take it back. Don't know where you live, but if there's any chance of your winter temp going below 5F you run the risk of total top kill. It's really ugly when that happens, and there is not much chance of existing culms releafing (if any); just new shoots coming up. I personally don't like it much, and I have a lot of it (freebie).

Post by **needmore** » Sat May 10, 2014 1:38 pm

In some areas, such as here, it spreads like crazy, it was the 1st bamboo I relocated due to rapid spread.

mpagri · Post by **mpagri** » Sat May 10, 2014 2:56 pm

I'm actually very close to moriphen - Philadelphia burbs 7b

Going to talk to the nursery people today. I think I'll try to exchange it for some of their nice white pines.

It sucks because the price was really good and hard to find clumps like that around here. Same price gets me a 1 gallon pot at other nurseries.

If I can actually locate his fargesia do you guys think that would be a better fit in this location, or should I avoid bamboo all together so close to my pond liner.

Tarzanus · Post by **Tarzanus** » Sat May 10, 2014 3:57 pm

100% japonica, can't miss it.

None of the temperate clumping bamboos will be an issue around your pond if you maintain it (couple of hours per year) and remove the shoots that are getting near your pond. Pseudosasa japonica will eventually want to go in there if you don't insert some kind of rhizome barrier. They can get quite vigorous around here, and I'm sure they can go wild in your 7b area as well. With some work it's easy to keep them in place, but around pond.. they can spread several meters in a season, which means that clump would have to be at least that far away from the liner and even then, in a good season, it might crawl a bit further and grow through. Barrier, concrete or HDPE would keep it inside, but you would have to root prune it every couple of years so it doesn't get completely root bound.

I would most likely install a barrier, not a big fan of pines.

mpagri · Post by **mpagri** » Sat May 10, 2014 7:18 pm

I am very new to trying to control bamboo and this forum is awesome. I hope I am not overloading you with questions as I try to figure out what to do.

The nursery guy will let me exchange it for other plants even though he doesn't believe you guys and still thinks it is fargesia. I told him I understand if he thinks it is fargesia, but I am pretty sure it is not and can't take the risk near my pond.

He doesn't have much else that I want and this one is already in the ground and looks good. I did, however, find a fargesia robusta at a different nursery for a decent price.

I am still torn between exchange, relocate within my own yard, or try to put in a barrier.

Here's a better look at the project I am working on:

dependable · Post by **dependable** » Sat May 10, 2014 8:49 pm

Nice pond. You probably would not want P japonica that close. An F robusta would do nicely, and would not get to pond lining unless you plant it right next to pond. And it does look like japonica to me too.

Robusta clumps can send out rhizomes up to 2 ft in one year from a really big clump, but this is unusual, more often it is around 6 inches.

A large F robusta 'green screen' I have got around 15x15 ft wide, 12-14 ft tall in 8 years, forgot what original size was, in the one to three gallon range. The base of plant is about 4x5 ft where it comes out of ground. Just got top killed this winter, but is sending up new shoots.

The japonica is more appropreate somewhere you can let it grow a little, and if you confine it, it will be a big enough clump not to get root bound right away.

oobmab · Post by **oobmab** » Sat May 10, 2014 9:03 pm

mpagri wrote:I am very new to trying to control bamboo and this forum is awesome. I hope I am not overloading you with questions as I try to figure out what to do.

The nursery guy will let me exchange it for other plants even though he doesn't believe you guys and still thinks it is fargesia. I told him I understand if he thinks it is fargesia, but I am pretty sure it is not and can't take the risk near my pond.

He doesn't have much else that I want and this one is already in the ground and looks good. I did, however, find a fargesia robusta at a different nursery for a decent price.

I am still torn between exchange, relocate within my own yard, or try to put in a barrier.

Here's a better look at the project I am working on:

He needs to give you a refund because he misrepresented his product. I definitely recommend replacement. Relocation to another spot is a good idea. Beautiful work btw.

moriphen · Post by **moriphen** » Sun May 11, 2014 2:57 am

On the right of this picture you will find a 4 year old Fargesia robusta 'Campbell', for reference the fence is 8 feet tall I posted it because our climates are nearly identical.

I was sold this as a fargesia, is it?

I was sold this as a fargesia, is it?

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