People have tried all those things and they mostly work. However, if you have bamboo completely containerized, it will not be as healthy as bamboo that has access to subsurface irrigation. Essentially, you have to think of those options as big pots, and plants generally need more attention and often don't grow as well in pots.

If you install barrier properly you should have no problems. And if, by some remote chance, you have a rhizome escape, it's not a catastrophe. It will make its presence known and you can then chop it back. It's not like an escaped rhizome will spread out through your yard for years and then suddenly reveal itself when its too late to fix it. I have about 80 types of bamboo that I grow without barrier, and rhizome prune each year, once or twice. Sometimes a rhizome will travel and get into the lawn, and then I have to spend 5 minutes chopping it and pulling it out. Admittedly, I don't maintain my lawn as a putting green, but I've yet to have any of my bamboo engulf anything.

Rhizomes generally do not dive very deep, so simply planting the bamboo in an elevated mound will help you catch any wandering rhizomes before they get very far. You could also consider building some elevated beds (maybe 24" high) out of landscape timbers and containing the bamboo that way while ensuring that there is still some water and nutrient circulation below ground.

I don't trust the quality of any of the barriers sold for bamboo. If you are in an area that has really good growing conditions an agressive bamboo will only laugh at a thin piece of plastic. This spring I saw a Vivax rhizome go through a barrier and a pond liner. The reason for installing a barrier is so you don't ever have to be concerned about the unwanted spead of your bamboo. the only thing I have come across for a "for sure" barrier is used conveyer belting. If you look around and contact some local lumber yards or gravel quarries you will be amazed at all the FREE belting that's available

Oh yes. That belting is tough tough stuff. That's a terrific idea, and one that I will look into. At my old job, 2300 miles away, I could have had all I wanted, but that doesn't help me. So I'll look around.

The whole thing is, I want to have a nice screen, near a fence. And once the Boo gets established, I won't be able to trim between the fence and the screen. There's just no room, so I need something I can depend on. That's a good idea, thanks.

The biggest problem I have seen with bamboo barriers is "congestion". If you have an agressive bamboo in a small container, like pottery or thin plastic, the constant and increasing pressure will cause it to fail. the same thing can/will happen in a situation if you have a barrier on only one side unless it is VERY strong. If you are concerned about the spread past a barrier that you can't access please remember that bamboo can be very-very sneaky