Help! Planting Bamboo in raised garden beds

[NickyB]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and I need some advice please!?

I'm wanting to plant some bamboo, either Gracilis Slender Weaver or Fargesia 'Fortune' bamboo in a raised garden bed.
I've attached pictures below- the garden bed is approx 12 meters long and 50cm high. The depth/width is also 50cm.

I'm wanting to plant it along the whole length, approx 10 plants?

Can anyone please tell me whether or not this is possible in a raised bed?
I was thinking of lining the bed with pond liner if i had too, but I'm worried that the clump may eventually wreck the brick work if the root bases get too big.
How big do they usually get with these varieties of bamboo?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
PS , in pictures, we are yet to fill the beds with dirt. We will be filling to the height of timber sleeper approx 45cm

Thank you in advance!!

[Nicholas]

Can anyone please tell me whether or not this is possible in a raised bed?

A raised bed itself doesn't really make a big difference if it is connected to the lower soil

I was thinking of lining the bed with pond liner if i had too, but I'm worried that the clump may eventually wreck the brick work if the root bases get too big.

Most pond liners won't really help much in the long run as they are usually quite soft. (use 2mm HDPE or something similar instead)

I'd say that eventually the Gracilis will cause you problems as your planting space is very confined, but this will be true for many other bamboos aswell.

By the looks of things the site is quite sunny and although the VIC climate has wet/cold enough winters the summers are brutal.
Fargesias don't cope well with lots of sun and intense heat combined with little rain so unless that site is shaded most of the day I'd advise against them.

Regards,

Nicholas


[edit]

You might want to look at some bamboos that stay a little smaller such as bambusa multiplex or maybe bambusa tuldoides/ventricosa (buddha's belly).
I've seen some nice stands of bambusa tuldoides in Lisbon which should have a somewhat similar climate to Victoria.

[dependable]

Have to agree with Nicholas, the bed is too narrow for most bamboos.