Someone was asking fo bamboo in another thread, and made me wonder.
Can you grow bamboo poles like they sell for garden use?
I know its grows fast, but how fast?

Has anyone grown it for this purpose?

How do you keep it in check (like mint?)?

Pleas spill the info.

Yes you can grow it. My grandmother planted the native variety we use for fishing poles. It went from a couple of plants to half an acre or so over 20 or so years. It does grow very fast though. No idea how you control it. After grandpa died we sold the place .

There are two types of bamboo. One is called Running Bamboo. This is the one that spreads like wildfire. There are two ways to control it. One is to completly girdle the stand of bamboo twice a year. This involves going around the plant with a shovel and making a deep cut to break off the runners. The other way is making a barrier that goes about two feet into the ground so that the runners come up and try to go over the barrier and you can break them off.

The other type of bamboo is called clumping. It spreads, but at a very slow pace. It spreads, not by runners, but by creating new bamboo root nodes. It needs more shade and can be quite a bit shorter and in some cases busher that the running bamboo. If I had the time and interest, I would create a barrier, but I really don't feel like digging a hole ten feet across and two and a half feet deep!

We've been looking into growing bamboo, but Giant Moso for lumber, not the small stuff.

You can definitely grow small cane bamboo like fishing poles are made of. I imagine the stuff they sell in garden centers is likely the same thing. And yes, they are either runners or clumpers. The clumping types aren't supposed to be as hard to control as the running types. But according to my research, if you mow the perimeter frequently, it is supposed to keep the growth in check. (Or perhaps slow the spread somewhat?) But the most reliable method is probably a lot like keeping mint within boundaries. If you are interested, try this link: http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/PlantingAndCare.html

The small cane bamboo seems to grow wild in places down here, so if I want small cane, all I do is find it along the roadside and cut some. The bamboo we want to try growing is more of a slow spreader. From what I've been told, controling growth isn't a problem with lumber bamboo, because it is cut so frequently.

You don't mention your location or USDA zone, so I wouldn't know if any bamboo is native to your area. That link to the American Bamboo society has all sorts of info, and I believe they have a comprehensive listing of all available types of bamboo grown in the US. There are pages on hardy and temperate bamboos, and also a page on growing bamboo in New England. Perhaps you could find your answer there.

Spilled 'nuff? :^O

since I don't have any yet a barrier would be a worthwhile effort. I'd grow the first one w/ barrier, because I want the poles and I like to unusual plants. (Bamboo would be unusual in S.W. Indiana)

I'm assuming it grows in z5 easily?

Does it prefer shade, moist soil or well drained sun?

What great plans! I just have to let you all know how great it is hear that people are growing bamboo - especially for lumber like d in dixie. I don't think I can grow it up here in Montana, but if you can grow it in zone 5, I am close (some years) to that.

It is a hugely practical material that can be used for many things that hardwood normally is used for: flooring, fencing. We don't have a local source for it so I don't use it but would love to build a fence with it. Maybe I will have to research some possible colder climate varieties.

I know Montana can get awfully cold, but perhaps...? Here is ABS's link for hardy bamboos:
http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/BarnhartIntro.html

Perhaps in a sheltered location with LOTS of mulch?

the website given was extremely helpful, now I must find a bamboo plant....

:8} Glad to hear it was helpful. I think there should also be a link on that site to suppliers. I don't know if Pacific NW, US Northeast, or a New England supplier would carry the tough bamboos that have the mojo to make it through your winters, but somebody out there probably does. Hey, get varieties started and thriving in your environment - - it sounds like a business opportunity waiting to happen.

Where I live in Pennsylvania is zone 5 and there's a couple of stands in my area that I know of. One is along a busy road and helps to keep car noise away from the house. They mow along one edge and the road is on another edge. The other stand is in a small backyard and has taken over the property.

I think I'll just wait on getting some till I have the time and energy to create a barrier. I really want the heavy-duty canes that the running types give you. I have a great place for it at the edge of a couple of Silver Maples, it would get plenty of early morning sun, but not the hot midday or evening sun. Right now I'm so sick of digging and tilling I could toss my tiller on the roof! And considering that its a Mantis, I could do it too.

I went out Monday and pulled the my tiller out of the shed. It broke in half! :_| It was a really old one traded to my Dad for a roll of barbwire he didn't need. I don't really need it anymore since the sod is all broke up. It's not hard to dig it by hand now. But all I have to make a barrier is scrap plywood. Think that will work?

I really want poles!

I went out Monday and pulled the my tiller out of the shed. It broke in half! :_| It was a really old one traded to my Dad for a roll of barbwire he didn't need. I don't really need it anymore since the sod is all broke up. It's not hard to dig it by hand now. But all I have to make a barrier is scrap plywood. Think that will work?

Not really, buy the time the bamboo got ready to make a run for it, , the plywood would most likely be rotten enough for the runners to punch through.

You might want to talk to some bamboo growers. And this is on how to eradicate it, but the heading is "controlling bamboo". http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/ControllingBamboo.html

I talked to Jim Bonner at Bamboo Plantation in Brookhaven, MS, and he said that running bamboo really isn't that hard to control, but it does need to be kept after. (Mowed rather like grass, I imagine at a young stage. He said people neglect it and then complain.) I was surprised to find that Moso is indeed a running bamboo.
I have been researching a little, and there are numerous different types of bamboo available in this country. Edible bamboos, weaver's bamboos, broom bamboos, other timber bamboos, as well as the ornamental and fishing pole varieties. One of my far-flung goals is to try to get our property set up for permaculture, and I think bamboo will fit in with that quite nicely.

Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront - - I think the girls and I will splurge on some giant timber bamboos as a gift for my husband for Father's Day. :8}