Bamboo from seed

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Bamboo from seed
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 22 7:35 pm Post subject:
By pot grown I mean bought pot grown and then set free. But yes they could easily be invasive in the wrong place, mine have room to expand. Looking through some old threads there's quite a few old posters I wonder what they're now up to. One of two I've probably met.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15952

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 22 9:29 am Post subject:

I am very surprised willow lasts longer than hazel; it is usually the other way round. If you cut and dry hazel for a while it will last longer. Like bamboo, willow is invasive and I would always advise against it in a small garden. People like the idea of a living willow sculpture, but can easily end up with a willow thicket.

Having said that, our hazel is producing nuts (and squirrels) and a lot are growing. I have been taking out the seedlings for use in the woods. Last year we replaced a hedge that the power line people had removed for access.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9869
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 22 1:40 pm Post subject:
I usually harvest pean poles from our hedging activities - I have found hazel will last for many years, so long as you keep it somewhere dry during the winter

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15952

Posted: Sat Dec 24, 22 9:27 am Post subject:
It does last well if seasoned first. I use green rods for bean sticks and they usually last about 3 years. After that they are good for kindling or the compost heap. Even hazel pea sticks will do about 2 seasons.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 23 10:56 am Post subject:
I wonder why the stuff you grew from seed didn't grow as well as the stuff you bought from the garden centre?

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9869
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 23 11:03 am Post subject:

sgt.colon wrote:

I wonder why the stuff you grew from seed didn't grow as well as the stuff you bought from the garden centre?

there are many different varieties. Some is very invasive. I wouldn't put it in my garden, personally, having seen how it takes over in some local gardens. My neighbours have put some in next to our mutual hedge, I am concerned it will spread into my field.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 23 11:06 am Post subject:
Ahhhh, so I figure the garden centre stuff has been picked that is better in this country. I've read some of it can be very invasive. We only have it in pots and I keep a close eye on it, as I don't want breaking down through the path.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 23 6:03 pm Post subject:

Yes, the seeds I grew were a different variety needing warmer winter conditions than I could provide. Shame as they could grow 20m high. Although winter's are generally warm down here we still get the odd week of very cold weather so can't grow tropical stuff.

I have got a couple of dozen mixed eucalyptus growing from seed. Some hardy varieties are grown in plantations down here but again where I am it's a bit too cold and windy for mine. They are surviving and some are covered in flowers in the summer (which the bees love) but the tops get scorched off in the winter.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46196
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 23 8:29 pm Post subject:

this may seem a bit odd but imho there are no native plants or critters, what is surviving or thriving is what belongs there

adding bamboo spp to the ecology is ok by me.

they can be difficult in the wrong places

they may be the things that can grow at or near that place in the future

the stout oaks of ingerland are post ice age migrants

when it was dry for a couple of years the semi arid "garden plants" did rather well in the wild round here

diversity without intrusive destruction

get planting

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15952

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 23 8:16 am Post subject:

We have to be careful about introduces species; some do very well but are invasive such as rhododendron ponticum, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and a number of others. They can sometimes cross with, or outgrow natives; an example being Spanish bluebell, which is something we have to watch for in the woods.

If it is a completely different species such as Eucalyptus of Southern beech it is a question of whether it really will grow well. As Treacodactyl is finding, eucalyptus can't cope with certain weather, and our experience of southern beech is that in some soils it is not wind firm. On the other hand, Corsican pine does pretty well.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 23 7:04 pm Post subject:

I used to be far more careful with things that can be invasive but since realising no one seems to care about even the most invasive plants down here (the council seems oblivious of the laws about spreading Japanese knotweed about for example and the EA don't seem to care either) I am more pragmatic. I also think there's a difference growing commonly available bamboos, that many people plant in a.small garden, in a setting that means I can mow round it and if it gets out of control it'll not escape my property.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15952

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 23 8:36 am Post subject:

In the case of bamboo, if it can be contained, there is not a serious problem. Even if the council and EA don't seem to care, I would feel I had a moral obligation to avoid certain other things.

I don't know a lot about bamboo; I am afraid it and eucalyptus are a couple of my pet hates in British gardens, and I would usually advise against growing bamboo or willow in a garden as both can take over, but you seem to understand and like bamboo, so good luck with growing it.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9869
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 23 10:10 am Post subject:
yep entirely possible to choose a non invasive bamboo and manage it. I am made nervous, as I said, by the out of control ones locally - possibly egged on by the mild climate here. We often visit the gardens of a local big house, and the bamboo is making its way up through the concrete path and lifting the crazy paving stones.... not the right type I suspect!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46196
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 23 1:09 pm Post subject:

eucalypts seemed to do ok in south london in the 1980/90s, not sure what sorts were the garden versions but they often needed a decent trim to put up scaff so those types grew well to maybe a 2 decade size at least

"could you mend a fence?" was a bit of an education, apparently they are rather flammable if dry

some of the leaves will burn green from a spark on a warm day

that was one of the more bizarre fire damage remedy jobs, do not bbq near a eucalypt

i would be more concerned by the fire issues than them being invasive

some folk suggest bamboo is invasive, it is rather site/microclimate/climate specific (like the rest of the grasses)so from a well-chosen microhabitat there is little chance of it spreading and thriving in places better suited to previous migrants

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15952

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 23 8:53 am Post subject:
The wrong sort of bamboo will go through anything I think. Eucalyptus gives off a volatile oil which is very flammable. Also, if you cut one down, make sure the wood is very seasoned before burning or the room becomes uninhabitable. Good for clearing a blocked nose though. The oil is also useful for getting rid of ticks.

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