On Mon, 28 Oct 2002 10:04:08 +0000 (UTC), "Robert Davies"
wrote:

How about a bamboo screen? I've planted several bamboos in my gargen
to hide an ugly new house that's gone up - their advantage is that
they rapidly reach their mature height, and they're evergreen - as
well as well worth having in their own right.
Most bamboos wouldn't like such an exposed site as you describe, but
one - Pseudosasa japonica - is recommended as one of the best plants
of any sort for a windbreak in a coastal location (in one experiment
in cornwall it was recommended as one of the top ten plants for
forming a windbreak.) The main problem would be obtaining enough
plants cheaply enough if the hedge is a long one. . .

There is a specific objection to Pseudosasa japonica, the metake
or "arrow" bamboo: it is a rampant spreader once established. The
new culms that can penetrate paving.

IMHO, metake bamboo is not suitable for boundary plantings: I
would not want to inflict it on my neighbors.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada