Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

talosian

May 29, 2005, 4:11 PM

Post #1 of 12 (1005 views)

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Bamboo plants wanted.

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Anyone know a nursery Lakeside where I can get small bamboo plants?

Thanks.
"When all logical explanations have failed, we must look to the illogical for the answer.

1ajijic

Jun 4, 2005, 7:36 PM

Post #2 of 12 (874 views)

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Re: [talosian] Bamboo plants wanted.

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Have you lost your mind! Take it from ANY horticulture pro, NEVER plant bamboo. The small clumping varieties sometimes sold in the states are not supposed to turn into the rampant even Round -UP can't kill it stuff that bamboo normally turns in to. But, when I worked in the trade I still never planted even that variety. If you find it keep it in a pot on a terrace or up off the ground. And watch it lest it break the pot and start spreading. It makes kudzu look like a pussycat!
http://www.newbeginningsmexico.com

talosian

Jun 4, 2005, 7:48 PM

Post #3 of 12 (867 views)

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Re: [1ajijic] Bamboo plants wanted.

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Actually I'm looking to create a jungle setting and "running wild" bamboo seems perfect. I'm trying to make a tropical logoon look around my swimming pool.

But thanks for the info.

Spock
"When all logical explanations have failed, we must look to the illogical for the answer.

Rolly

Jun 4, 2005, 7:58 PM

Post #4 of 12 (865 views)

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Re: [1ajijic] Bamboo plants wanted.

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Oh, come now. I've grown bamboo for the past 25 years in Los Angeles and here in Lerdo. It's not all that hard to control if you pay attention to it. The tall varieties make good shade on the south and west side of the house. I wish I had room for more.

Rolly Pirate

Marlene

Jun 4, 2005, 8:29 PM

Post #5 of 12 (854 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Bamboo plants wanted.

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I have this informative bamboo plant site bookmarked. Now if I could just get a handle on banana trees....

http://www.bamboonursery.com/maintenance.htm

mkdutch

Jun 4, 2005, 8:30 PM

Post #6 of 12 (853 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Bamboo plants wanted.

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We have had a bamboo plant here in upper Chula Vista for 6 years. The key to controlling it, I think, is to be sure the rhizomes can't spread uncontrolled. We did that by surrounding the plant with rocks (or maybe it was cement slabs, I can't remember) that were sunk to 12 or more inches. Our plant got very large, and was very healthy, but in six years never spread beyond the origianal clump. We got this advice from my brother-in-law, who is the "bamboo man" in Oklahoma City. All the local nurseries there refer customers to him when they are looking for bamboo plants. He has five acres and hundreds of varieties. It can be controlled, you just have to work at it a little. Good Luck!

Kay

jennifer rose

Jun 4, 2005, 8:36 PM

Post #7 of 12 (849 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Bamboo plants wanted.

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I have several kinds of bamboo, including two forests of giant bamboo which has to be about 15' high. In the front of my house are two brick planters filled with bamboo. There's nothing better than the white noise of rustling bamboo. Maintenance? Not that much of a problem. Every year, we simply cut out the old clumps and canes. The bamboo makes great hanging baskets for orchids (a sign my gardener sometimes has too much time on his hands), and I've even used it for firewood.

(This post was edited by jennifer rose on Jun 4, 2005, 8:44 PM)

cristalhombre

Jun 5, 2005, 9:59 AM

Post #8 of 12 (793 views)

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Re: [mkdutch] Bamboo plants wanted.

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Senor Dutch is correct. With careful planning and control, bamboo can create a very interesting landscape feature. I have had success with six 'clumps' of an aggressive growing variety at my casa here in the states for the past 12 years. Mine has NOT gone crazy and engulfed the neighborhood. It lives right where I want it quite nicely. It has not been a problem at all, but you do have to take some careful steps prior to planting to maintain it. I consulted a master gardener at the Portland Japanese Gardens (a must see if you ever get to Portland), and purchased strips of galvanized sheet metal, 120" long by 10" tall. (good luck finding a sheet metal shop in Chapala) fastened the strips together (4" overlap) with a pop-rivot device, and sealed with silicone sealant and formed a kidney bean shaped area about 10 feet by 4 feet. According to the gardener, the rhizome/root does not like metal, (either did my hands), wear gloves when you install this stuff. Bury the metal "cookie cutter" shape, so the top edge is just an inch or so below the top soil. This may sound like a lot of work, but I am a project person so I really enjoyed the process. I thought it was straight forward and simple. Inside this "kidney bean" perimeter, I planted about three 1 gallon pots, today you can barely see thru it.......yes! you will have a jungle by the third season. It will create a very interesting effect.

"BIG CAUTION FLAG"........FOR YOU SPOCK!!!

This stuff loves water and it would love to suck the life out of your pool, and in the process destroy your mechanical system (pipes). It can really cause problems around water pipes and potentially the concrete, gunnite walls of the pool. I would recommend you use caution about how the barrier will be placed between pool and plantings. The rhizomes (roots) creep from the top as Dutch indicated. If you use concrete, I would add some re-bar mesh, to reinforce the curb or wall that is buried at least 12 inches, the mexican blend of concrete (not as strong as what is used NOB) IMHO.

It also drops quite a bit of leaves (seasonally) here in the Pacific Northwest. I would place it at least 15 feet from the pools edge. Maybe with the Chapala climate, the leaf drop I experience here in the Portland area would be minimized. This plant is plenty hardy and when we get our winter freezing rains, the tall stems (15 - 18 feet tall now) bend over and sometimes touch the ground with an inch of ice plastered on everything. Then a thaw and back up they go.

It is a cool plant. If you have ever traveled to Asia you see bamboo used as scaffolding on high rise structures 40 stories high (most amazing) and foot bridges that span 100 foot canyons.

Good luck Spock!

"NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST...."

Howard Botz

Jun 5, 2005, 11:54 AM

Post #9 of 12 (761 views)

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Re: [cristalhombre] Bamboo plants wanted.

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When I purchased my home in Seattle in 1985 I inherited a small clump of tall growing (10 feet) bamboo. It was surrounded by city sidewalks on three sides and my side yard on the other. For the next 17 years I battled with that bamboo. It easily traveled under the sidewalks to come up in my neighbors hedge and every where else. If the rhizome was not removed immediately when it popped up the plant was quickly established and very difficult to get rid of it. Because I was a serious and avid gardner I was able to somewhat contain the monster but I would never say I won the battle. Now that I have been gone for two years I will wager the bamboo is taking over the neighborhood.
My next door neighbor loved black bamboo and kept a couple of clumps of it in her yard. This variety was tall growing and did not spread as bad. The leaves however were another matter. The mess on the ground from the leaves was a constant battle for me and my leaf blower. Bamboo is beautiful it its place but it not something which should be planted without a little research.

Howard

patricio_lintz

Jun 5, 2005, 3:22 PM

Post #10 of 12 (719 views)

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Re: [Howard Botz] Bamboo plants wanted.

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An avid gardener friend of mine told me in the 1970's, "if you ever plant bamboo, plant it in an old bathtub sunk into the ground. Just about the only way to control it. It will grow right up through driveways.."

Sounds like a good method of locallizing it.

Kimpatsu Hekigan

Jun 5, 2005, 9:22 PM

Post #11 of 12 (669 views)

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Re: [talosian] Bamboo plant info

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FWIW, here's some info from a guy that runs the "Baja Bamboo Park" somewhere near Cabo San Lucas:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/...tid=10292&page=1

In the dim and distant past, I lived in Kyoto for a few years. A good friend had a traditional-style house on the edge of a large grove of giant bamboo (stalks about as thick as a man's arm and about 40' tall). For about six weeks in the late spring at the start of the rainy season, he or his kids had to go on "bamboo shoot patrol" every morning as soon as they woke up. This involved crawling underneath the house with a saw to lop off any bamboo shoots that had sprouted up during the night. The crawl space was about two feet high and often the tip of a nascent bamboo plant would already be brushing the underside of the floor boards. Failure to perform this ritual every morning, or inadvertently missing a shoot, meant a punctured floor and a ruined tatami mat. They did seem to have an endless supply of edible bamboo shoots, though...

-- K.H.

Before enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.
After enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.

Bubba

Jun 6, 2005, 11:49 AM

Post #12 of 12 (604 views)

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Re: [talosian] Bamboo plants wanted.

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I just saw bamboo at the nursery next to Telmex in Ajijic. Go and search the upper left side of the lot, near the driveway.
Brigitte