Running Bamboo For Sale
Running bamboo is often a nuisance, while the clumping bamboos for sale at Palmco are known to be well-behaved in the landscape. They are also well-suited to Florida’s tropical and subtropical climates.
Running bamboos are often considered invasive.
They send out vast underground networks of roots and are the hardest to control.
The underground shoots can travel as far as 10 to 15 feet, producing new culms all along the way. It’s wise to enlist the guidance of a professional before planting them in order to maintain control. Often, even precautions taken before and after installation cannot contain the aggressive nature of running bamboo.
The most?manageable?and non-invasive species of bamboos are the clumping varieties.
They stay in one place and won’t creep horizontally more than a few inches per year. Each new rhizome produces only a single culm, located very close to its mother culm, and all they require are sun, water and fertilization. If you can keep a lawn healthy, you can manage clumping bamboo.
Choosing the Right Bamboo For Your Landscape
Running bamboo:
- Ideal for fast-growing, dense, vertical privacy screens and hedges
- Create stunning bamboo groves
- Good for ground covers and erosion control
- Excellent container plants
- Grow up to 60 or 70 feet in tropical climates
- Cold-hardy; there is a species for nearly every climate zone
Running varieties are?not recommended?for steep slopes where you can’t easily install barriers or in areas where you want to avoid rapid spreading. We don’t recommend planting running bamboo in a small yard in warm climates like Florida without barriers around them.
Clumping bamboo:
- Ideal for moderate-growing, dense privacy screens and hedges
- Beautiful as ornamentals and specimen plants
- Effective backdrop for other plants or structures
- Grow to an average of 30 feet, or to 55 feet in tropical climates
- Controllable behavior, even without barriers
- Non-invasive and remain in close proximity to the main plant
Tropical clumping bamboos are generally less cold-hardy than the running varieties, so they are not recommended outside of warmer climates.?Also, depending on the species, we recommend giving clumpers from 2 to 10 feet of space if you want them to reach their maximum height.
Can the Spread of Invasive Runners Be Controlled?
Ponds and streams can be effective barriers for running bamboo.
We don’t sell or grow runners, but when asked for our recomendations, we will recommend placing rhizome barriers all around the plants to prevent them from spreading. These root barriers can be plastic, concrete or metal, and should be two or three feet deep, extend an inch or two above ground level, and slant outward at the top. The barrier will deflect the rhizomes and cause them to bend upward.
Cut off any rhizomes that arch over the top of the barrier to keep them under control.
Can Running Varieties of Bamboo Be Eradicated?
You may be successful at removing small patches of runners by digging out each shoot.
Pull out as much of the plant and the rhizomes as possible. If runners have taken over, cut the grove to the ground, water it to cause new growth, and cut the new shoots down again. Without green leaves to produce energy, the rhizomes will eventually stop sending up new shoots and will die and rot away.
Palmco does not grow running bamboo!
We grow onlin clumping bamboo and have 14 stunning varieties for sale at our 600-acred plantation in Bokeelia, Florida.
Visit us today or call us at (239) 283-1329 or (855) GOPALMCO to find out what’s available and learn more about bamboo.