Shade tolerant running bamboo in zone 6b/7a?

[jpluddite]

Hi. I'm new to the forum and am in awe of all the great info I've found here.

Last spring I planted yellow groove, golden, and harbin inversa. In the summer I planted black. All were 2-3 gallon sized and are surviving their first winter fine. The yellow groove and harbin inversa are probably doing best, but all of them continue to add new leaves. Is that normal?

This spring I hope to add more bamboo to the yard. But the new spots are shaded by a dogwood. One yellow groove I planted in the spring is shaded by that dogwood, and it's not doing well, so I want be sure to add a good candidate. What types of bamboo do ya'll recommend for shade in zone 6b/7a? From reading the forum, one person said that he had aurea and aurea koi growing in full shade; another person said japonica likes shade; others mentioned bisetti, decora, and nuda. The opinions about rubro are quite mixed.

Which of the above are best suited to shade in the sense of providing a screen. So long as it's at least 10 to 12 feet high, I'm happy. I'm also concerned about how long it will take if I start with 3-gallon sizes.

To give you a sense of my climate, I attached a few pictures. The first two are from a grove of black bamboo my wife spotted last week on the way to work. The other picture is an insanely dense grove of yellow groove down the road from me.

Thanks,

jp

[dependable]

A lot of runners do ok in partial shade. P Bisette, yellow groove , decora, nuda and P S Japonica are all candidates. Bissete is fastest, nuda is slower. I know you said your yellowgroove (P Aureosulcata) is not doing well in shade. But if soil is good and the shade is partial, it will eventually do fine. in fact, I think some of these plants reaching for the sunlight actually bother to grow taller culms than they would in full sun, though they might not develop as quickly. P S Japonica can develop as an understory canopy, which has its uses in some sites. In the shade I would not recommend P nigra and its relitives, P aurea also prefers sun.

[canadianplant]

Try pseudosasa japonica maybe. I had a pot of it (that died over the winter fyi) up here at 48 latitude, warm summers. IT thrived in all day high dappled light. I usually see it rated zone 6 or 7. Maybe someone here can attest to its hardiness? Also, you can make arrows out of the culms, so just think of the uses there may be for the thing yet strong culms!

[dependable]

I am in zone 7a. P Japonica here was killed to ground in a rare sub zero f event, otherwise does pretty well. Will get some leaf burn in exposed locations at around 10d f.

[bamboothew]

Semiarundinaria fastuosa might be a good choice. The Semiarundinarias are generally rated for any degree of sun or shade and make great screens. The fastuosa is at least as hardy as the nigra (black bamboo), I think, so if the nigra does well there you should be fine with it.

Of course, the bissetii is ALWAYS a superb choice! Also can't go wrong with Spectabilis!

[jpluddite]

Thanks for the great responses.

Given my constraints, it sounds like the choice is between bisettii and japonica. Of those two, which will provide a screen quickest in my shady area in zone 6b/7a assuming that I start with 5 to 6 foot tall plants and space them 3 to 4 feet apart?

jp

[ghmerrill]

Bisettii for sure. I would think japonica would suffer frequent leaf burn there. We had one winter here that hit 7f, and my japonica forms all had quite a bit of leaf damage.

[Alan_L]

3-4 feet apart might be too close for bissetii. It's super-vigorous at least in the sun. My 1-gallon plant produced something like 30 new shoots its first shooting season.

[ghmerrill]

Thanks for the great responses.

Given my constraints, it sounds like the choice is between bisettii and japonica. Of those two, which will provide a screen quickest in my shady area in zone 6b/7a assuming that I start with 5 to 6 foot tall plants and space them 3 to 4 feet apart?

jp

Not to pick on you, but I have been seeing this allot lately. Maybe more people who are general gardeners getting in to bamboo.... The height may not mean much, as bamboo is not like a tree. rhizome mass is more important which usually means larger pot size. I have seen some 10' tall culms that were potted, but would take a few years to really start doing much, where a really good multi culm pot would just keep matching along, getting larger each year, outpacing the one that started larger.

Now, with Bisettii, it's a rampant Grower. Needmore had some great photos on his site showing year to year progression. Here is a bit of one of my patches


That started as two divisions planted in July of 09..... The photo is of shoots coming up the following spring , so the photo is from may or so in '10. Something like 50 new culms that year, from about 5 original, two on one division, 3 on the other, all cut off at the first branch.

The following year I think there were another 75 or so new shoots, I thinned some out, and left some. I just dug and potted a bunch off it, and am contemplating digging the rest and moving it. It's about 10 tall at the highest. Pretty fantastic growth.

I thought I had a photo of the grove now, but I couldn't find it, so here id a pic of a friends place, Bisettii and some others on a mixed screen. Lots of shade, horrible soils- mostly decomposed granite- and behind a barrier.

[jpluddite]

Ghmerrill,

I'd heard that Bisetti was a shooter, but those pictures you posted are stunning! The reason I'm considering Japonica is that I've heard it is quite shade tolerant, and I've heard less about Bisettii's shade tolerance.

The plants I'm going to buy are actually 3-gallon plants that happen to be 5 to 6 feet tall. There are multiple culms in each pot. Given that extra information, how far apart should I plant them? My biggest worry is that they will be shaded by a (beautiful!) dogwood, but I'm probably going to see about getting the dogwood pruned a bit.

Thanks,

jp

[David]

JP,
I would avoid the japonica for a couple of reasons. Japonica is beginning to flower(mine were in full flower last year) so you don't want to put a lot of money and effort into a plant that might die. If you can find seedlings then that would be a different story, but remember that seedlings show great variability and you might get a plant that's not worth growing. The second reason to avoid japonica in our zone is that every few years a freak winter storm will kill it to the ground. I killed/removed 3 japonica groves last year because I got tired of looking at seed heads and winter burned leaves.

I have several groves of bisettii that have done very well in shade with only dappled sun, and they are approaching the 20-25' mark. It would be a good choice, and you might even consider the dwarf version which I really like as well.

David

[ghmerrill]

I absolutely second what David said. I can pretty much guarantee you would not be happy with japonica in your climate zone.

I don't know of any Phyllostacys bamboo that will not do ok in shade, might not get as large, out grow as quick, but it's not going to die.

As far as spacing, that depends on how quickly you want it filled in. Instant gratification- 3' apart

David or Brad could tell you better, since your climate is much different than mine, my guess would be 6'-10' spacing between the holes you are going to plant in. Closer or farther depending on your situation- soil, $, patience...

[dependable]

If you want a basic bamboo stand for screening, some type of hardy Phylostchys is the way to go. Semi arundinarias are splendid but harder to find and a bit slower to get going, but worth it if you like the vertical habit and have room for more than one type. P S Japonica can lurk around under the trees and form a lower canopy, or be on edge of a place you don't want to be shaded by a 25-30 ft bamboo stand. . S A Yashadaki Kimmei also does ok in the low canopy roll, but needs more sun.( In Plant Zone 7a.)

I did not know that P S Japonica was going to seed. I have some I dug years ago, and some I bought under name of P S Japonica pleobasties. which has slightly smaller leaves. I will look out for that , thanks.

[jpluddite]

Thanks guys!

I've decided on the bisettii. I like the semiarundinaria, too, but I don't think I have room for them and the bisettii.

Now I need to buy them. Needmore said that his bisettii are typically too big to ship and that he won't know if he has any smaller ones until spring.

Do ya'll have suggestions for a vendor? Anyone I should avoid?

Thanks,

jp

[bamboothew]

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