What's your most aggressive runner?

[CJ_IS_HERE]

HEY!!!

I resemble that remark!!

[Iowaboo]

Its actually quite remarkable how smoothly this forum runs. I've been to many other forums for all sorts of stuff(card counting, toothpaste brands, murdershewrote, he-man, ect.) and it seems that arguments really start flying. I would have assumed we would have gotten bamboo haters in this forum, but maybe Bill sifts them out as spam.

[BooKing]

Lance, ' card counting' - So that's how your gonna secure that 25gal Parvafolia plant.

[needmore]

This is a tough question to answer...Atrovaginata throws very long rhizomes but does not produce many culms along them very quickly; Rubro & Bissetii run like mad and produce tons of culms; my unidentified ground cover Pleioblastus - probably Pygmaeus aff. spreads like mad; but here are 4 other candidates.

I may have to give SY Kimmei the most aggressive award as I mow, rhizome prune, and make many divisions just to keep it in bounds and currently it is a tad out of bounds. Lots of spread and culms but not much size early on 6-7 feet at the tallest, also not as hardy as stated some top kill at +3F and total leaf loss. Here is what I've left after 5 years from 1 small plant, it's pretty much a 5 foot tall ground cover and perfect for a perennial shrub in my climate.


<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo/2006kimm2.jpg" alt="SEMIARUNDINARIA yashadake 'Kimmei'">



Another candidate, Hibanobambusa Tranquillans this is the spread from 1 plant 3 years ago, I've made a couple of divisions and pruned a bit to hold it back. A bit shy of 8 feet tall so far, this species seems leaf hardy to about +5F, with damage starting about there. Culm kill at around zero.


<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo/2006hbtrans.jpg" alt="HIBANOBAMBUSA tranquillans ">



Semi Okuboi in another planting I've been cutting down and digging up, this one is from 1, 3 year old division that has been mowed to control but more needs to be dug out now (and weeded).


<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo/2006okuboi.jpg" alt="SEMIARUNDINARIA okuboi ">



And the very beautiful Sasa Tsuboiana is now getting mowed back. This is from 1 very small 3 year old plant. It's about 4 feet tall and covers more ground than the picture may suggest. The poor little F. Rufa on the right edge is getting very scared....



<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... boiana.jpg" alt="SASA tsuboiana ">

[BooKing]

Great pics Brad. It gives us a good idea what to expect from those bamboos and can plan our attack on them accordingly especially since my Hibanobambusa tranq Shiroshima is with my Vivax huanwenzhu inversa.

[Bill Howard]

lkz5ia

Its actually quite remarkable how smoothly this forum runs.

Maybe part of the reason is many of us are here to observe, listen & learn A-N-D
everyone seems to have a great sense of humor A-N-D when you walk thru a forest of bamboo it mellows you out & some of us get to do that occasionally. No, I am not a head doctor just an old man that's been around for a while.

[serenityinbamboo]

I agree with you Bill! That is why my screen name is "SERENITY in Bamboo" . It truly is a calming, peaceful feeling I get when I walk among my boo and play with the "little guys" still in pots. If only we could bottle that feeling for the rest of the unfortunate souls that do not understand the powers & beauty of Bamboo

[rfgpitt]

Brad,
Do you mow those down in the spring, or selectively remove dead culms?

Great pics!

I'm starting my perennial area at the edge of my property. We'll see just how many 55 gallon barrels my dad can get me.

[rfgpitt]

ooops,
Sorry for hijacking. I'd have to say Yellow Groove runs the most at this point, but my bissetii is just starting to take off.

the good news is my whateveritis vivax is sending out runners finally!

[needmore]

rick - I try to remove all dead or ugly culms & leaves but this year I let the Tsuboiana & Kimmei alone and the new growth hid the ugliness, the Hibano & Okuboi I trimmed down to green leaves/culms - about 50% of their height was fried. The Kimmei was a mass of dead looking sticks in mid-May but recovered quickly.

Here is a 2 year old Argenteostriatus in the foreground and a 2 year Indo Latifolius 'Solidus' on the left of the Tsuboiana and you can see that the Sasa has reached it space allocation.



<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... mounds.jpg" alt="PLEIOBLASTUS argenteostriatus ">



And on the opposite end of the aggressive spectrum this Pl. Viridistriatus is the result of 5 years growth of about 20 rhizomes but the Okuboi has invaded it the past 3 springs.



<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... triat1.jpg" alt="PLEIOBLASTUS viridistriatus ">

[Thuja]

Ditto, Sasa tsuboiana looking very nice.

[CadyG]

Brad, you're photos make me drool. Wish I had more space to let my 'boo spread out the yours can.

All of my runners have been fairly well-behaved, maybe because they are on a sloping lot and the winter winds keep them from increasing as rapidly as they would in a sheltered place. I do have some Semiarundinaria fastuosa "viridis" that is in its second season, and it is by far the most aggressive 'boo I've observed so far. It put up a half dozen shoots maybe 2-3' from the parent planting (a mere slip of a plant when I put it in the garden last year). By contrast, Phyllostachys nuda, bissetii, rubromarginata and mannii "decora" have been much less productive over years of growth. They are still well within bounds and have put up shoots very close to the parent plant, making shrubby thickets instead of big groves. Go figure.

The Pleioblastus are another thing entirely. My P. viridistriatus lost no time in taking over a 6'X10' area in less than three seasons.

[needmore]

Cady, I wonder at what acreage I'll feel like I have enough, already I'm starting to plant on other peoples property to have enough groves to dig from as I feel like I too needmore space. I'm trying now to create areas to plant the import plants in about 2 years when they'll go in-ground.


I planted 3 Fastuosa Viridis divisions about 6 feet apart 3 years ago. They too have just started to hit the boundaries and will be future digs. It's one of my lastest shooters and these culms are not yet fully leafed out but it has hit 10 feet in height on the tallest.




<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... iridis.jpg" alt="SEMIARUNDINARIA fastuosa 'Viridis'">

[Iowaboo]

With recent imports, maybe you'll need 30 acres? Or bigger? I don't know what the price of land is out in the needmore mountains.

If I could get some species grow here, I could probably magically set 100 acres in boo savannahh. I don't know. I think iowa is primary prairie grasses. Bamboo roots may not go deep enough.

[CadyG]

My "significant other" wants to buy acreage in SC or GA for bamboo, just bamboo. He envisions driving down Decembers to cull the moso and harvest timber, and having ready standing groves of P. nigra "Henon" and other varieties he likes for making fences and other bamboo implements in his Japanese gardening profession.

Last I checked, he thought 7 acres would do it. Next time I bring it up, it will be 10, then 20, and so on. I draw the line at 10, because if just the two of us are doing the harvesting, that's about enough 'boo cutting for me as a "vacation" activity.