Northern California foothill bamboo customer sees lots of growth from bamboo...

Penn, a bamboo customer who lives in the foothills east of Sacramento, California, put in some work to install bamboo rhizome barrier for his running bamboo that he bought from me in late 2009 - Phylostachys nigra 'Black Bamboo' and Pleioblastus shibayanus 'Tsuboi'.  His goal was to screen off a spa and his backyard from a neighbor.  Both bamboo varieties offer great contrast, 'Black Bamboo' has the beautiful black upright culms and the 'Tsuboi' is bushy with slender white and green variegated leaves.  Two really nice bamboo choices that fit the practical purpose for Penn's bamboo purchase - privacy.

The installation of the bamboo rhizome barrier, early 2010.

After the barrier installation, the bamboo plants were put in place.  Again, this was early 2010.

He e-mailed me this week showing the amazing growth during the 2011 bamboo shooting season.  Here are some photos he shared:

First 'Black Bamboo" shoots in of the season, May 10, 2011.

'Tsuboi' shoots intermixed with 'Black Bamboo' shoots.

Penn's notes: "Another closer shot of the same black bamboo shoots that had just broken the surface of the ground on May 10. This picture was taken on the morning of May 18 and they are almost 4 feet tall! That's an average growth of about 6" per day. Yippee!"

An emerging privacy hedge is fulfilling its vision. More from Penn: "This is the bamboo hedge looking from the top of the path. The deer fence in the background is to protect the nearby vegetable garden (deer won't eat the bamboo). Also, the close-by neighbor's house in the background was the reason for planting the hedge. Notice the tall black bamboo shoots in front of the deer fence."


It's great to see that Penn's hard work to install rhizome barrier and to plant running bamboo to create privacy hedge that is performing very well.  Running bamboo works well when rhizome barrier is installed (to ensure containment), soil is prepared well and the right varieties for the area are selected.  Penn did a great job in all these areas and his attention to detail shows.

Cheers!

Sean
Mad Man Bamboo
(916) 300-6335
www.madmanbamboo.com
Mad Man Bamboo on Facebook
Twitter: @madmanbamboo