I generally have found that bamboo do not lean toward sunlight. Some of my bamboo do lean, but in no specific direction. And it's easy to correct: when the shoots are still flexible, I just tie them upright by connecting them to a nearby culm with a piece of twine and they harden off in an upright position.
If you are looking for a bamboo that does well in shade, you could try something like Pseudosasa japonica (Arrow Bamboo) or Yushania anceps.

I usually lurk in this forum. I have about 2 1/2 acres of bamboo that is rampant, aggressive and pernicious. Left to it's own devices, it will spread 20' in every direction in a single year. My bamboo forest has overtaken 100-year-old pecans and sycamore trees, destroyed 125-year-old cedar trees, you name it. Only the tip tops of the sycamore trees are still visible, and they do persist, but not with much vigor.

So, if you want to destroy an otherwise beautiful grove of maples, by all means plant the bamboo. They will first grow a pernicious forest of stalks (10 years to 15 years) then lightning will strike, and the bamboo will go up in flames like crepe paper and destroy whatever remains of your maples and any buildings within the combustion zone.

P.S. Don't be surprised if your insurance company cancels your insurance when they discover you've planted such a firetrap.

So, if you want to wish that on yourself or whomever buys your property in all innocence, then by all means, plant the bamboo. There is no catastrophe like the one that is invited in the front door and encouraged to stick around.

spademilllane-
You either have a great sense of humor, or you have not tried to maintain your bamboo. With all due respect, if bamboo was as aggressive as you describe there would be no other plants on earth. I'm not disputing what you say; I simply see it as an example of what can happen if bamboo is planted and not maintained in any way...sort of like kudzu....

Kudzu,

Why not dispute what spadermillane says?

He/she is specifically claiming that bamboo is a fire hazard, which seems absurd on the face of it.

He/she is specifically claiming that an insurer may cancel a homeowner's policy because the owner planted bamboo. Again, this is simply absurd.

So, since a significant portion of her/his post is, in all likelihood, a misrepresentation of demonstrable reality, what reason is there for accepting the truth of what remains?

Highlander

Thank you all for your comments. I think spademillane really loves maples:-)

Highlander-
When I said that I didn't dispute what the poster said, in my mind I was referring to him having a bad experience with bamboo due to not maintaining it. However, on re-reading my response, I can clearly see where it sounds like I'm also agreeing with the absurd stuff...whereas I was really simply not dignifying it by responding to it. So, thanks for posting. You're right and I agree with you. I've got to quit writing posts when it's after midnight!

It takes bamboo 2 months to grow a culm and it takes 2 seconds to cut one down. How is it that some people can't maintain their groves? How do you have a renewable resource like a bamboo grove and never cut canes for fencing, crafts, outbuilding, tools etc....? Why would you plant bamboo and then never use it?

I think many people simply don't know how to use bamboo, or perhaps they grow varieties that are not as usable/edible as others, and etc. We may have to give them benefit of the doubt:-)

To most of us on here you are desribing a dream come true. There are lots of people that would love to come maintain it for you. Just as easy as posting a free bamboo ad on your local craigslist and it will be gone in no time. You could even cut it down and sell it. Most of us would love to have a supply like that.

If OP is in the PNW and nightmare scenario described in the one response was in the deep South ("pecan trees") or similar summer climate results with hot climate bamboos like Phyllostachys will be liable to be quite different. Not only is it comparatively cool in summer here we do not get buckets of rain during the growing season, unlike much of the eastern half of North America.

And all the prevalent large-growing species of maples are quite dominating, with growing of other plants beneath them (once the maples are of some size) being much more limited than with more favorable garden overstory trees such as oaks. Even here in its native region it is typical for there to be openings beneath the canopies of bigleaf maple trees, these spaces often being occupied by colonies of sword ferns as many other kinds of native plants cannot do well enough beneath them to maintain much of a consistent presence.

Even comparatively small specimens of Norway Maple in local plantings often have bare soil or mulch beneath them.

If you can provide adequate moisture and fertility just about all kinds of hardy bamboos will grow in substantial shade. If your site is heavily dominated by the maples the competition from their roots for moisture and nutrients will be more important than the shade from their leaves. If the trees are comparatively low-branching shorter-growing bamboos like Sasa sp. will fit with them better than taller, pointy ones like Phyllostachys sp.

If you are in the PNW all are liable to become infested with bamboo mites, which seem to have become almost ubiquitous here. These make the leaves blotched- and striped-looking, can be quite a spoiler - you might want to find out more about this before investing much in bamboos. Control requires repeated applications of suitable chemicals at the right times, pretty much forever (re-infestation by new mites coming in from outside can probably be expected) - same as with growing perfect hybrid rose bushes.

P. Heterocycla Pubescens MOSO, P. Nigra Henon. I wish I could grow some Moso.

Thanks bboy for the good info. That's very helpful.
Thanks boomantoo, I just planted a small Moso:-)