I've got a couple of Semiarundinarias in the ground (Semi. fastuosa 'Viridis' and Semi. okuboi) and I've had growing concerns that their deep rhizomes were going to be a containment problem.
The other day I noticed a small okuboi shoot about a foot past my rhizome-pruning line. Yesterday I noticed a small shoot 6 feet past the same line!
I've been pruning about 16" deep. Now, I guess it's possible that these shoots are from new rhizomes that have grown since my last pruning a couple months ago. I'll have to dig into the lawn to see if the might be whips, how deep the rhizomes are, and so on. I'm really hoping that they are whip shoots from new rhizomes. I thought this one was done shooting, so maybe that's the case.
I bought several okuboi from our local co-op for just a few $ a pot. After researching however I decided not to plant them because of their deep and far running reputation. I gave them to a friend of mine who planted them out on his large farm. They are being contained there by foraging cattle.
It may or may not deserve its reputation, but I was not willing to take the risk.
David
David Arnold
Middle Tennessee Bamboo Farm
USDA zone 6b
Mine is 'contained' by mowing only, but it will send shoots 20 feet from the edge where I start to mow. It runs so far that it will pop up in the middle of another grove and no culms in-between - very sneaky, fortunately the shoots are quite obvious so I can easily cull them. I like this bamboo, for me it is the hardiest Semiarundinaria I've tried and the only one I am still growing.
Does S fastuosa wander as widely and deeply as the S okuboi?
I have a vague recollection of a discussion, here, in which it was claimed that S fastuosa was well behaved and easily controlled---at least in somebody's garden, somewhere.
My straight S fastuosa did nothing, no size up, little spread, no fun. The 'Viridis' form of it ran like mad, as did every other member of the genus that I've tried. S yashadake 'Kimmei' produced rhizome branching that I've yet to see repeated - every time I dug one it had produced new rhizome branches at nearly every bud that it could, it must have been producing new canes on the youngest rhizomes as it look like every bud was used up, but it produced tons of canes as well.
My fastuosa ran 10 feet in it's first year. that was in France but it's a Bamboo that can and does run fast. Mine is barriered now with Bamboo barrier and is not a problem anymore. Very good looking Bamboo , upright and a great Windbreak.
I use it to protect Bamboos that could get wind damage, one that is protected by fastuosa is vivax H inversa.
Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size
Update: I dug up the escaped shoots to see how deep the rhizomes were, and they weren't too deep. These must have been from recent rhizome growth -- the farthest one (6') was a whipshoot. So I'll stop worrying about it for now at least.
I pruned around my containment area again, and felt several rhizomes get cut -- it's very satisfying.
