Bamboo

[Theblip]

Anyone here used bamboo plants for screening, and if so how effective has it been, is it an evergreen (I need it to provide privacy all year round), and is it safe for pets to be around?

[Theblip]

And how tall does it grow?

[pixie374]

I have, in front of a bamboo screen fence. It grows like wildfire and needs cutting back very regularly, but it does the job.

[pixie374]

My friend's is over 10 feet, in spite of cutbacks, if that helps.

[pixie374]

To answer the rest, it is evergreen. And when my springer arrived last year, she ate 3 x 5 foot bamboo plants, with no ill effects.

[Thisoldbird]

I'd never heard of it until today..when I read of someone asking how to get rid of it..apparently it's a heck of a job to get rid of..

[pixie374]

My springer will do it. £5 a plant :-)

[MallyJ]

It goes mad and can take over the garden...worse still it can do the same to your neighbours garden if the fence/wall is between to gardens...a friend spent ages and quite a few £s digging it all out and still she gets out breaks where bits of root are still in the ground...

[AuntPollyGrey]

You can buy non invasive species of Bamboo.

[ladybirder]

What about a nice privet hedge that won't invade other gardens, looks beautiful and birds can nest in? A much better answer although it will take longer to grow it's worth it. We need more hedges.

[pixie374]

Privet is toxic though, especially to pets.

[Atheist]

Pixie, privet was the universal hedging material on the council estate where I grew up. Most people had dogs and cats (not pedigrees of course) and I never heard of any instances of pets being poisoned by privet. It was usually a bit high for their little jaws, and I don't think it attracted them. Pets were always eating grass, but never chewing at hedges.

[pixie374]

Fair enough, atheist. It was in the OP, that's all.

[Theland]

Rent-a-Panda would control it.

[ladybirder]

Privet is not toxic to pets. For a start birds wouldn't be nesting in it if it was.

[pixie374]

//Common privet is also known as privet, Amur and wax-leaf and is a member of the Oleaceae family. This plant has toxic principles and causes symptoms of toxicity in humans and animals. Privet is commonly used as an ornamental shrub or hedge.

Common privet is also known as privet, Amur and wax-leaf and is a member of the Oleaceae family. This plant has toxic principles and causes symptoms of toxicity in humans and animals.//

Every part of privet is poisonous. It's ok if you are sure they won't eat it.

[Chipchopper]

Bamboo can easily take over its new place and spread beyond its intended boundaries, by means of underground root runners.
One way of intervening, is to plant the bamboo in large pots, to try to prevent the roots from spreading, but you still need to keep an eye on it.

[rowanwitch]

Buy a clump forming type like a fargesia, and plant them in a space with the sides lined with a barrier that sticks above the surface about 6" , old paving slabs work well no problems.