OK, I put in rubro from rhyzome (this year makes five years) and have root pruned with 18" spade twice a year past couple of years. It has definitely flourished...has reached 15 feet high and spread about 40 feet in both the east and west direction, and about 10 feet in the south direction. I strictly root pruned the north side, as I was trying to be a good neighbor. Here is where my problem has arised.....it is still coming up on the side of the neighbor as far as 20 feet away. It is coming up through the horse barn and goat barn. Good thing my neighbor is my mother. Apparently either it is an extremely vigorous runner or ???? So, I figured I had better invest in a barrier for that side. What would be the best recommended way to severe root system and dig deep enough to install barrier. I was thinking about renting a ditch witch for the day, but didn't know if that would be my best bet...any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is my first run in with runners and I am sure it will not be my last

Are you saying you rhizome pruned the entire 40' (or is it 80') length on the north side, and still had escapes? Perhaps the rhizomes came back from one of the west/east ends?

Ditch Witch might be the way to go -- anything that can dig a narrow trench deep enough. Or even just an excavator to dig a wide trench/hole on that side. (I haven't tried it myself.) But if you're leaving the ends open, I don't know if it will solve the problem.

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Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!

40ft in each direction is crazy. Is that from 1 year of spread?

I dug out my entire grove of rubromarginata because I didn't like it's thick growing habit with too many culms and mediocre hardiness, but when it was in the ground, I think the greatest rhizome growth in a year was no more than 30 inches. If you thin out your grove a little bit, the spread might calm down with less photosynthesis, and more room to shoot from the center of the grove.

As far as controlling a monster grove, I think you might be able to get a trenching tool if a shovel is too much work. The best time to sever a circle around the grove is probably right after shooting season once they are branched out and the rhizomes are drained of energy.

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I root pruned the entire 80 feet east to west... I do not believe the rhizomes came from the east or west as by the placement of new growth on mom's side. When I install the barrier, I do plan on doing so in a "C" as to encompass the three sides...do not care as much about the front growth as I do want a large grove and I do pot up and sell twice a year.

@stevelau....the first year it spread a few feet around and the tallest shoot was about two feet. Each year has definitely surpassed the previous year. This last growing season (fourth) I had shoots coming up fifteen feet high and 40 feet from original first year growth...when I had planted it was bare rhizome that I had gotten from David. I guess it is going true to the old adage about first year sleeps, second year creeps, third year leaps, fourth year reaps.. and I am starting to fear as the fifth approaches

Wow, that's an enormous difference from what you might expect to see in my climate as far as spread although rubromarginata is supposed to be among the most aggressive along with bissetii.

I think even richard haubrich which has only about 15% of green on their leaves might spread really fast where you're located.

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Serenity: Is your soil quite sandy? I remember somebody posting that the rhizomes seem to go much deeper in sandy soil.


How tall was the tallest culm, and how many years had it been in the ground? It seems like you probably didn't give it enough time to start showing its stuff.

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Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!

I started my rubromarginata in 2008, it got pretty badly burned the first year, and then the 1st shoots were in the 2-3ft range. In 2011 the shoots went up to around 6ft by 1/2 inch with summer shoots, but it was shooting like crazy, upsizing only minimally and gobbling up space as fast as the parvifolia. I prefer less shooting with more of a focus on larger culms such as with vivax or dulcis so I plan on keeping rubromarginata as a potted specimen. It probably could have gotten past 20ft with another 5 years, but I already have a super aggressive type with parvifolia which seems to upsize much faster so I dug the grove out.

Since you are already starting with a division with large culms, I think you should expect to see larger shoots right away especially if you keep on getting zone 8 winters.

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Darn... I was hoping rubro would do better (in terms of upsizing) in zone 5. I have a potted 3 footer that I plan to put in the ground come Spring time. My yard is still bare, so I'll just let it run for now.

@ Alan....No, soil is not sandy. It has mixed texture with clay in areas....I found a few pictures to show progress....

this picture was the first growth from bare rhizome in 2008


this one was taken April 13, 2010


this one was taken July 17, 2011, I was unable to get all growth on sides in frame


has grown since last photo...if I get home in daylight tomorrow I will get a current one. For the past two years I have taken off and sold 50- 3,5,7 and 10 gallon pots also aside from just root pruning

Is that camera tricks...cause that rubro looked like it exploded in year 2011

Nope...no tricks as you can tell by the barn...now you see it...now you just see the roof Kinda why I am afraid of this years' growth, especially since it is already sending up small shoots! It definitely likes where it is at.

My rubro upsized from 5 to 9 ft last year. Moved it to a better spot last year. Will be interested how this one goes in zone 7.

took this picture today to try to show more of the east to west growth, still could not get all in frame and unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate...everything is just greening up from our plunge to the 20's a couple weeks ago..which we are expecting again this weekend...wacky weather

My bamboos are all planted with a 30 foot radius planned. There is a mowed 6 foot wide path running along the "Bamboo Lane" I just realized that I am going to have either a massive mixed grove in 10 years, or thousands of divisions... Probably both.

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