Pleioblastus i.d

[johnw]

I was just in Newfoundland this week and visited a nursery in Spaniard's Bay. I had given the owner this bamboo back about 20 or more years ago with a warning re its aggressiveness. At the time he was living in St John's and had a protected backyard. He moved some to the nursery in SBay 2 years ago so he could propagate it.

What surprised me is that it doesn't die down at all there but does run like crazy. I had always assumed it was 'Distichus' which if we have it labelled correctly stays very low here - about 6" high - as we need to cut it back hard in spring. Though the growing season in eastern Newfoundland is very very short, it is milder than here and the ground rarely freezes, snows are extreme and the wind is ferocious.

Someone recently mentioned a better Sasa to get... was it Mini?

johnw

[johnw]

This is the sort of environment on the east coast of Nfld.

[moriphen]

That looks just like pleioblastus distichus and in my yard it is very adaptable on its own. 1" when in a high traffic area with no competition all the way out to a lanky 12-20 inches when it invades other plants. As for its hardiness around here it evergreen with no issues in any of the past 3 winters. Finally in my layman opinion the "mini" cultivators of both Sasa and Pleioblastus will only stay short if they experience no competition for the sunlight they need.