We have a 6' stucco wall in our back yard, and beyond that wall is a fairly busy street and a large retail complex (stores, banks, restaurants, etc.). Want to screen that view up to about 25'. I had a stucco retaining wall built along the outside of the 50' stucco wall to encloses a 3'x50' area to plant bamboo. We live in San Diego about 10 miles inland from the coast (zone 10 I think). Our back yard is only about 25' deep, so this bamboo will be right on top of us and needs to have an erect habit so the back yard doesn't get too claustrophobic.
My questions:
- I want to mix bamboos, both for the look and so that if one type doesn't do well or flowers or something that the entire screen doesn't thin out. Would runners and clumpers do ok together together in such a restricted area, or is it better to go exclusively with one or the other. The clumper would be B. oldhamii and the runners would be Phyllostachys (vivax and henon and possibly a smaller plant as well)?
- We've been getting a lot of conflicting opinions from bamboo sellers on whether B. oldhamii should be planted in a 3' wide area. Of the six or so we've talked to, 3 or 4 recommended against it (two very strongly) and two said it would do fine (one very strongly). How much room (width) does oldhamii need? And if the space is smaller than optimal will the plants just be shorter than normal or will they just not develop at all? I've seen picutures of oldhamii growing as a screen along some narrow strips (see the Burbank, Irvine, and Long Beach photos at the link below), so I have my doubts about the nay-sayers:
Thanks for your help. Rob