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Photographs by A. Trevor Sutton
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Jennifer Fischer loves the bamboo growing in her yard. And she hates it.
The source of this love-hate relationship is a thirty-foot long section of yellow groove bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata) hiding a fence in the backyard of her house in Ladue. Fischer loves the look of the bamboo, but she hates its rapacious growth.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata, up close and personal
“Bamboo has a tendency to stoop down in the rain. As the leaves get heavy with rainwater, the bamboo leans toward the ground giving it a really artsy look. It makes for a very unique privacy fence,” said Fischer.
Yellow groove bamboo can be planted during the autumn months, provided the plant will have roughly four to six weeks of soil temperature over 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Late season plantings can be protected with a hearty layer of mulch.
Although yellow groove bamboo is not native to Missouri, other bamboo species are indigenous; for instance, giant cane bamboo (arundinaria gigantea) is native to Show-Me soil. Whether it is native or not, bamboo can offer prolific—sometimes overly prolific—growth under the right conditions.
“It can be very invasive if you do not control its growth. It is best to snap off the new growth before they get any bigger than six inches," Fischer says. "The culms are still tender at that point.”
To help control the plant’s growth, Fischer had a steel plate installed deep into the ground. The plate helps thwart the plant runner roots from spreading into her neighbor’s yard. The cooler temperatures that come with the fall months make for a good time to root-prune pesky bamboo runners.
Butter the dog, enjoying his "very unique privacy fence"
“Learn from our mistake: Do not plant them around overhead wires. They were spreading so much we had to bury a steel plate 24 inches into the ground.”
Do not despair—Growing bamboo is not all work and no play. The plant’s bountiful growth allows for some creative repurposing. Fischer uses her old bamboo culms as tomato trellises and support for orchids; the opportunity for bamboo repurposing allows this exotic evergreen to be ‘green’ year round.
And when all the new growth has been reigned in and the old growth has been repurposed, yellow groove bamboo creates the ideal atmosphere for enjoying a well-deserved glass of wine.
