Privacy screen, what would you do?

I would rather not use bamboo, Phyllostachys need a rhizome barrier and after some time they are not necessarily really dense at the bottom, and Fargesia don’t look so great in the sun and also don’t grow that tall.

This interests me now, as I had pinned my hopes on Fargesia to finally enjoy a bamboo hedge, after I was always warned about wandering killer bamboo (does that decline in Latin?). When I then read here about the clumping Fargesias, my heart immediately warmed.

What do you mean by not looking so great in the sun? Do they turn brown faster? There is this note in the other thread about a variety that turns nicely red. And why not that tall? For the bamboo dealers I googled, it usually says 2-3m for the Fargesias. That is enough for a hedge. Or are these details never accurate?

Thanks and regards

Tolentino

I have a classic Thuja hedge. I ordered the plants already 180 cm tall, the hedge is trimmed to 230 and is dense. Advantage: it stays green in winter too!

Thuja is dying everywhere here right now. Ours too. They need a lot of water. We water them every day for 45 minutes hoping to save the hedge. We even got professional advice about it. But it will probably die.

What do you mean by not so great in the sun? Do they brown faster?...

1. There are several different types. Bamboo is evergreen but loses leaves endlessly. 2. It is very dense. Only at the ground not so much – but that’s no different with other hedges either. 3. Height depends on the species. 4. Really beautiful bamboos are Phyllostachys (is that how you spell it?). There are so many color and size variations. However, it grows like a weed and urgently needs a rhizome barrier – which is quite an effort. Fargesias somehow all look the same. 5. I have had many bamboo varieties in the garden (no Fargesias). But back then I was inexperienced. I wouldn’t do it anymore today, because it’s just too messy. As a hedge it’s also not nice and requires relatively a lot of space. Conclusion: Bamboo is beautiful, requires work, may have to be "contained", is not well suited as a hedge, great specimen plant if Phyllostachys.

That is a bit sobering, but thank you for the detailed summary.

and when bamboo blooms, which happens on average only every 100 years, it dies
You can only dig it out with an excavator then, because the roots grow extremely profusely.