Bamboo behind a 360-degree barrier

[jpluddite]

Howdy folks.

I've maintained bamboo behind a 3-sided barrier, but in my new location, I'll need to use a 360 barrier. Does anyone have experience with using a 360-degree barrier? I'm worried about the barrier breaking and/or the bamboo getting rhizome bound. The space is about 16 feet long and 4 feet wide.

[Alan_L]

It will definitely get filled up with rhizomes, but I wonder 1) how long that will take, and 2) will the result really be any different than rhizome pruning? (When you rhizome prune you're probably cutting off the freshest rhizomes, leaving the center full of the older ones.)

You should probably use only a single plant in that area too. (More plants means faster rhizome congestion, more competition, hence smaller size)

Barrier failure is always a concern.

(If you are asking these types of questions, you probably have an instinct that bamboo might not be the best choice for this spot.)

Alan.

[needmore]

Good advice Alan, hope all is well for you!

[dependable]

I've put in some plantings like this at customers' request. In the short and medium term growth is pretty normal, in the long run, they do tend to get rhizome bound. When this happens, the bamboo tends to keep putting out new culms, but they tend to get thinner and grow at less than maximum height. In both cases that I still maintain, removing dead culms and fertilizing occasionally, the groves are still looking pretty good and providing the screening that the customer was looking for in the first place.