Choose bamboo carefully to avoid spreaders

Gardeners are often bamboozled by bamboo, particularly the running kinds that are notorious spreaders.

Most of the clumping varieties can be contained, however, growing quickly into attractive specimen plants and screens. It's important to know the difference before you buy.

"Bamboo is really nice to look at and it has a pleasant rustling sound in a breeze that reminds me of white noise," said Jeff Schalau, an agricultural and natural resources agent with University of Arizona Cooperative Extension at Prescott. "It also is a great barrier plant if you want privacy or want to block something out."

There are more than 1,400 different bamboo species, which range from north of the Arctic Circle in Norway to the steamy tropics of Southeast Asia. It is one of the fastest growing plants in nature.

"In ideal conditions, there's been bamboo recorded to grow 39 inches a day," said Ted Meredith, author of "Bamboo for Gardens" (Timber Press, 2001). "I had a bamboo I measured grow 13 inches in one day. That's pretty neat. You can almost watch it grow."

Many bamboo varieties can be used as container plants, attractive on a sunny patio or porch, said Meredith, who lives in Edmonds, Wash.

"One of the good things about bamboo is that it's a vigorous, happy plant, but a downside is that it gets root-bound more quickly," he said. "It's easy, though, to take it out, divide and repot it. Most of the stems are hollow, making it light and portable in containers."

Bamboo also offers utility.

"Some are very tasty," Meredith said. "I know of a farmer in Puyallup (Wash.) who harvests bamboo shoots and sells it to specialty markets around the area."

And bamboo serves as good building material for fences and borders. "Black bamboo is hard and beautiful, and you can make very colorful yard constructions from it," Meredith said.

Bamboo's hardiness often causes problems, though. Many varieties can take over a yard if left untended.

"I never recommend planting bamboo unless you're certain about the varieties," said Morgan Judy, an extension agent at Clemson University's Orangeburg, S.C., office.

"Research not only the varieties you're looking to buy but the best places to put them, and then see how they do over a period of time," she said. "There are some ornamentals out there that are perfectly good to use, that are not invasive and that look really nice."

Eliminating a spreader if it becomes troublesome may take several seasons, Judy said. There is no quick fix.

"Bamboo is a grass. If you can keep it under cultivation or mow it regularly, it will die out that way," she said. "Planting it inside a concrete barrier is a practical option, although cutting it down and using an herbicide is probably more practical."

Bamboo is becoming popular with landscape designers, and a number of nurseries have begun specializing in the plant, Meredith said. "Many of them offer control and maintenance [services] if you need help dealing with it."