Saintpfla,

I am not an expert but I do grow a bunch of different kinds of bamboo. Clumping bamboo will definitely work it just depends on how much mass and height you want? If 20 or so feet tall will work Multiplex in either the standard green or Alphone Karr which is a yellow culmed bamboo would be perfect. If you need more than 20 feet of height you will have to go with a larger type of clumping bamboo.

Far as if it will grow under the fence...clumping bamboo grows around itself so imagine sticking a straw in the sand. Now place more straws around the first one and more around those the circle will grow larger over time but all the stems will come up next to it's neighbor culms. The neat thing with bamboo is even if you plant it a foot from the fence you can keep it from growing up on the other side. Bamboo shoots are very fragile when they first come out of the ground and if you simply push it just a bit when it is a few inches tall it will snap off and that culm is done, will never grow again. By doing this you control which way the plant grows. I will take a couple of pictures for you in a bit.

Hi BambooRabbit!

Well...you're automatically an expert to me since you grow it and know waaay more than I do about it! ;)

Now, do you plant it in spaces like this (the I is the bamboo): _I_I_I_ or _II_II_II

in order to develop a living wall?

How long can I expect it to get to reach 20ft?

I would love to see any photos you may have. Thanks so much for your advice!

Hi SPF,

BR is the right person to talk to when it comes to bamboo...I know your place though. WHERE were you thinking of doing this? The south, west or east side? I honestly don't think you have room for bamboo on either the west or east side unless you're talking about the south end of the west side, certainly not on either side of the house since it's so narrow, would be problematic with either of these locations.

Tom

I don't know much about bamboo myself, but my parents have a bamboo farm and they have a lot of good info on their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: BeautifulBamboo

We put clumping bamboo on our property line between us and our neighbors and told our neighbors to cut anything back on their side that bothers them (no fence). Yes it will put shoots up both on the inside and the outside of the clump, it's a living thing. We also cut unwanted shoots at ground level on our side to keep it in bounds and do the same on their side to save them trouble.

There are some bamboos that are narrow growing and form tighter clumps than others. Textilis gracilis is our tightest clumping bamboo and is also quite tall. It grows fairly slowly though and is not cheap. Be fairly expensive to make a living wall with that one.

Denise

Tom: Remember, the orange tree that was dead? I had it cut down. I was thinking of putting it on the short part of the fence run, not the longer part. I need something to block the neighbor's second floor view.

Then, I was going to re-plant another orange tree as well.

Am I too grandious in my thinking for my square footage? I thought bamboo would behave well enough to work in this space?

I'm stuck. I feel like I live in a fish bowl. Things were great while the next door neighbor house was in foreclosure for two years....

Thanks for the link AmberBrook. Great info out on that page!

I'm wondering if Graceful Bamboo might be a good choice?

The attributes that make Graceful so popular:

It isn't too tall or too short (grows 20-25 feet).
It has the right amount of leaves - not too many or too few.
It is very cold hardy (down to about 18 degrees).
It is an upright grower with a small footprint, which makes it ideal for landscapes with limited planting beds.
New shoots come up very close to the previous year's canes, which gives Graceful a tight, compact appearance.

http://beautifulbamboo.blogspot.com/2011/03/graceful-bamboo-bambusa-textilis.html

I'm copying some friends and neighbors that have narrow side-yard screens using a mix of bamboo, fishtail palms, bananas, white bird, and areca palms. Some need to be trimmed here and there as to not obstruct the walkway, but they build a nice tropical screen.

That's a perfect spot for a clumper and you'll achieve your desired affect within three years, but you'll have to give up the idea of also being able to put an orange tree back there if you're going to put in a variety that will grow to 20'...too much shade for the size of your back yard.

Tom

I was wondering about the shade factor as well. I was hoping that bamboo was the 'solution'.

I just don't know what to do with this area.....aaarggh!

Buy your oranges, put the bamboo in, you WON'T be disappointed ;-) I have cardinals nesting in mine all the time, they love it....

Tom

LOLOL!!!.....I've considered that option too - just buying my oranges.

I don't even eat that much citrus. I just like it growing in my yard! ;)

Honestly, I'm surprised your orange tree made it to semi-old age with all the shade where it was in your back yard :-( Give it up and enjoy the bamboo, but, IF you're heck-bent on citrus forget the bamboo and get a dwarf tree on flying dragon root stock and place it where you put the cattle panel trellis last year, that's the ONLY area in your back yard with enough sun throughout the day to support proper citrus growth.

Tom