Growing bamboo from seed in the uk?? Bamboo types?

[Janna]

Hey Grapes,
I've been away for a long time travelling, and it is lovely to get back to home, gardening and the grapevine!
I've been inspired by my travels to add a bamboo fence along the back of my chicken run. It's already an invasive bramble hedge, and i have a heavy duty mower and a strimmer, so I reckon I'm ready for it!
Can anyone recomend the right kind to make a great screen/wall over head hight, but not too high, beautiful would be a bonus but not TOO invasive would be more of a priority.
Also is it worth me growing from seed, all the plants I've looked at so far are VERY expensive!!!
Hope you can help

[Two_Sheds]

The more beautiful, slower growing, less-invasive ones are more expensive. Plenty of people are digging out bamboo all the time: have you looked on eBay or Freecycle?

Or, you could start small and propagate your own. I bought a stick in a pot for £10 four years ago (phyllostachys nigra) and now it is 2 big clumps about a square metre each.
This spring I've taken root cuttings and now have half a dozen baby ones to grow on (I could easily have done many more, but don't have the room)

[Janna]

Hello Two Sheds, thanks for your quick reply. Have you ever tried them from seed, I want to do a pretty long hedge as quickly as possible, so lots from seed might be quicker.
I have got a wanted on freecycle at the mo, but I'm not clued up yet as to what variety, do you think it will make a big difference, or just go for any I can get hold of?

[Two_Sheds]

No, definitely don't just go for anything. At worst it will take over your entire garden and you'll spend every hour trying to hack it back

I've never seen bamboo seed for sale (except on eBay)

It would be worthwhile having a read of a good book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardy-Bamboo...2712710&sr=1-1

[Janna]

Oooh, thanks I'll get hold of that. Yeah,I was afraid of the triffid style nature of the bamboo and I want to just get it right! It was ebay I saw lots of affordable seeds on, do think this is a dangerous option?

[Ouya Mellsa]

I've tried growing various different bamboos from seed for about 5 years now, using many different techniques. I've never had 1 germinate.

I bought all my seed from reputable eBay sellers/shops, too.

[rana]

Many bamboo varieties flower and produce seed only very rarely even in their native habitat so it doesn't surprise me that 'reputable' seed is unviable.

[Ouya Mellsa]

Great point!

I think I'm right in saying that bamboos tend to only flower after 100 years......? So, the seed I bought could have been 100 years old!

[TonyF]

There are two types of bamboo which have different root systems, one much more invasive than the other.

Broadly speaking you don't grow bamboo from seed. I've a dozen or so books on bamboo and grasses and in none of them does it mention growing bamboo from seed. Buy a plant and divide is really the only way to go.

I was in one of the worlds leading bamboo gardens here in France just on Monday and nowhere does the owner mention growing from seed and he supplies grasses seeds/plants and bamboo plants around the world.

If you want good advice on bamboo, speak to an expert like Neil Lucas at Knoll Gardens in the UK, he's won a cartload of Chelsea Gold Medals for his gardens, he has a superb new book out on planning/planting gardens with bamboo and grasses and will give some free advice by email - if you get in touch with him, mention Tony in France recommended you contact him, we exchange emails regularly. And he sells plants by post.

I wouldn't buy bamboo seeds from ebay, you have no idea of their provenance.

[Janna]

Thanks so very much everyone, especially Tony F, that's brilliant, I'll drop Neil a line.
Thanks again! J