Jeff in Houston,

Do you mean swimming pool? If so, bamboo is terrible for litter. Leaf and sheath drop is rampant throughout the growing season, making it a nightmare to keep clean.
If you plan on a pond, plant at will.

Cheers, Barrie.

Webgator, thanks for the link

Barrie, yes it is a swimming pool and you are correct again that I am looking for a low maintaince area. I don't think Houston has a non-growing season so this would translate to me that most boo would be messy and get stuff in my pool?

--Jeff

No different than having any deciduous trees in the area...

Growing season or not bamboo will renew it's leaves once per year, though with the more cold hardy species you will not really notice it.

Jeff-
All bamboo will shed a few leaves gradually, but you're not going to get masses of leaves dropping at any one time. It occurs for me a little more this time of year, but I would consider the leaves and culm sheath drop to be modest, and much of it will go directly on the ground at the base of the bamboo. If it were me, that would be an ok tradeoff in order to have something that lush around the pool.

I have a Bambusa Multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' growing within a range of about 7-10 feet of a swimming pool. So far I have not seen any of its leaves in the pool (no culm sheeths either). I have had it for almost 1 year and almost 1 month. The tallest culms are perhaps 12 feet in height (at present most arch or lean over to a considerable extent). A bamboo that arches heavily would be much more likely to end up shedding some leaves in the pool than a vertical grower (provided other factors such as height are constant).

I hope eventually the Alphonse Karr will be able to provide a substantial amount of shade (would probably need about culms of 20 feet or more for this to happen and they need to grow a little bit closer to the pool). Eventually bamboo leaves might end up in the pool in large numbers however since it has not occurred this main not come to pass.

Thanks for the input, where do I look and what kind should I look at.

--Jeff

Jeff-
What effect do you want? Do you want a hedge/screen, or specimen plantings, or both? How tall? Large culms or something more delicate? Something that has an erect habit or a weeping one? Green culms, black culms, yellow culms, striped culms? In your Zone you've got a lot of choices. What are your preferences?

Wow, lots of choices, but I have answers.

I am looking for a screen around my backyard for priviticy. Tall, erect habit, green or striped. I want year round green. I am concerened on how to contain.

--Jeff

Jeff-
My suggestions: Semiarundinaria fastuosa which is a rigidly upright green bamboo that is densely leafy from the ground up. It's my first choice for a hedge, particularly if you want something that stays somewhat narrow. In a striped bamboo, you might like Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon,' which has yellow culms with a pronounced green stripe and is rather leafy as well. You can look at photos of these (and others) at:

Bambooweb.info

[Pick a name to see all the thumbnails for that species, and you can also get all the data specific to that species when you click on any thumbnail.]

There are quite a few others that you would like, and I'm sure others here will make their suggestions. You should also visit a bamboo nursery (not just a regular nursery) if you can, because bamboo often look different in person compared to photographs.

As for containing it, most bamboos that will grow well for you are runners. I contain mine by rhizome pruning once or twice in the fall with a sharp shovel. If you're not up to that, you should probably install bamboo barrier, which is a special, heavy-duty plastic on the order of 40 mils thick. You need to trench down about 30" and place the barrier in the trench so that it leans slightly away from the bamboo (that way the rhizomes tend to get deflected upwards).

This is great. Thanks for all the info and web link. It looks like the Semiarundinaria fastuosa is what got me going on this mission, but I like the other as well. My Saturday morning mission is to find a Bamboo nursury, I think there is one very close to my house and also specializes in ponds too. I will let you know what I find.

--Jeff

They used to be NW HOU, but were planning to move further out to have more land for more bamboo:

http://bambootexas.com/Plants%20Available.htm

I just moved into a new house in Phoenix, AZ and need to plant a privacy hedge to screen from the neighbors looking down into the yard. I am next to a mountain so the houses next door are nearly a story above. I would like to plant bamboo as it is compact and vertical but worried about shedding in the pool. What would the best species be for the Phoenix, AZ climate? Need it to be clumping, tall, and fast growing. Thanks!

Lindsey-

You need to talk to a local bamboo nursery. The Phoenix climate is now subject to such temperature highs that finding the right bamboo may be a challenge. Also, any bamboo you plant will require frequent, heavy waterings. Finally, despite bamboo's reputation for growth, it will take a couple of years for it to start putting out major new growth, and will only gradually increase in height. The way bamboo grows is that it puts up new canes each year, they quickly grow to a height that is a little taller than last year's canes, and then never get taller or fatter; next year, the new canes will repeat this cycle. When I moved into my current house about 14 years ago, I planted numerous varieties of clumping bamboo. Depending on the species, I've had a wide range of growth results: 3' growing to 6'; 5' growing to 12'; 6' growing to 14'; etc. Since all bamboo have a maximum height that varies from species to species, some of these have likely topped out. There are tropical clumping bamboo that can get up to 40'-60' in, say, Florida, but might not grow very well in your hot climate. I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need local advice about which bamboo will tolerate your climate, and be realistic about how fast growth will be. If you find a species that does well, and you want a tall screen fast, you'll have to buy plants that are large already, and that won't be cheap.

I'd recommend driving around a few of the neighborhoods with your "boodar" on. Once you locate some bamboo growing near you, stop and ask what variety, etc.

I googled and there are a few growers and landscape companies that specialize in bamboo, so reaching out to them might prove beneficial.

If your pool is not screened then yes, you will have have to deal with skimming leaves and culm sheaths from the pool for a few weeks of the year.

Definitely recommend clumping varieties, and ones that are semi open as they are easier to maintain than a tight clumping variety.

Driving around is a good idea; just be prepared for the fact that most people often aren't sure of the real name of what bamboo they have in their yards ;-)

You need to be 101% there are no bamboo mites on what you buy. Read up on this. Not sure about spider mites, they could be different.