Negative Post-Gazette article

[rfgpitt]

Hey guys - been awhile!

I was looking at my local news and came across this article in my local paper:
'Green' bamboo not ideal for Pittsburgh area

I emailed the author the below and if any of you have the time, please feel free to offer him your two cents as well. Bamboo does not have a strong foothold in my area and as elsewhere, there are many that are truly uneducated. However, there are also many who love gardening and along with having the means, would have no problem growing some if they were not scared to death to even give it a chance.

Thanks and Happy Earth Day / Good Friday / Shooting Season to you!
-Rick


XXXX
Kevin,
It is true the running (in our area mostly Phyllostachys) varieties can get out of control if a containment method is not put in place or if planted in a small confined area. But for many who are willing to put in the time to grow this wonderful plant and/or have the room, it is extremely rewarding. The clumping varieties that you mention of controlling are all tropical and will not survive PA zone 5/6 winters. There are many that fall under this category. For us in the W. PA area, some Fargesia's such as Fargesia dracocephala 'Rufa' (a small clumping variety) will do OK and behave like any other ornamental grass. There are also small ground cover varieties that are very colorful & ornamental and can do well contained in small beds such as what we commonly put around trees or lampposts. Two that fall in this category are Pleioblastus viridistriatus and Pl. fortunei. It is a shame that people who may not fully understand this fascinating plant have their ideas and thoughts molded by uneducated or in your case, one sided views. I would fully appreciate it if you could make the following information available for people who would like unbiased information:

American Bamboo Society - http://www.americanbamboo.org

BambooWeb.info (forum) - http://www.bambooweb.info

Thank you for your time and any subsequent actions,

Rick Goeckeler
(bambooweb.info user rfgpitt)
XXXX

[watchnerd]

I like how they make it sound like buying bamboo is like buying crack cocaine:

"Although it isn't usually sold at reputable nurseries, this very tall member of the grass family is relatively easy to find on the Internet."

And, yes, so much factual incorrectness in the article. But there are so many errors in the story, the journalist can't issue a 'correction' (which is almost never done these days). He'd have to ditch the entire piece, because it is predicated on the idea that bamboo is a scary uncontrollable monster.

[bamboothew]

That article is a laugh, but it is too bad that many people will probably believe it

Wow, she has seen a clump of bamboo 6 feet wide and as deep--sure sounds like that clump is taking over the world! Also, I hate to tell her this, but there is likely no running bamboo growing wild in the southeast. IT WAS ALL PLANTED THERE! Can anyone in the southeast verify that running bamboo has ever been planted here by accident or spread by seed? I doubt it. And clumpers can supposedly be contained if planted in a steel cage? What does that even mean? Truly sad, what gets printed and aired these days. Opinions with no proof really can be destructive!

I will make a point to compose a calm, collected email to these folks soon, thanks for the post!

[stevelau1911]

I emailed him too.

Yea it is kind of funny how someone can post an article like that without doing research on the topic, but just taking the word of someone who obviously has no experience with bamboo. I actually started growing bamboo hoping that it would be a bit more aggressive and fill in a lot faster before I realized that our short growing season, and lack of summer heat really limits the spread of rhizomes, which I guess is the reason none of the bamboo growers around here have ever put barriers up.

Whenever someone sees my bamboo garden, they are usually first surprised that bamboo grows here especially given that winter lasts half the year and just from looking at the number of plantings, I guess they could probably figure that I don't really worry about them running into each-other.

So the next time you hear someone say "Don't grow bamboo, it will take over everything, you should ask them a question like do you have any experience with bamboo?". They'll probably say no, but I've heard """""""""

[foxd]

At the end of the article they suggest planting Arundo donax instead!!! WTF?

[watchnerd]

At the end of the article they suggest planting Arundo donax instead!!! WTF?

Yeah, which actually is invasive, at least around here.

[bamboothew]

At the end of the article they suggest planting Arundo donax instead!!! WTF?

Yeah, which actually is invasive, at least around here.

I had the same thought, since Arundo can actually propagate from tiny pieces of root being dropped during removal or being washed downstream in riparian areas, as well as from the layering of mature culms. Even in my dryer area with a much shorter growing season than yours in CA, it probably spreads a good bit faster than the few clumpers that may grow here, though it is not at all invasive here as long as it is not grown on a stream bank. I grow every cultivar of it I can get my hands on: absolutely LOVE it

[foxd]

I sent off a politely worded email to the writer pointing out two major things wrong with his article. I really didn't want to make a long list of errors that chances are he would ignore. I figured just listing two items might get his attention.

[watchnerd]

At the end of the article they suggest planting Arundo donax instead!!! WTF?

Yeah, which actually is invasive, at least around here.

I had the same thought, since Arundo can actually propagate from tiny pieces of root being dropped during removal or being washed downstream in riparian areas, as well as from the layering of mature culms. Even in my dryer area with a much shorter growing season than yours in CA, it probably spreads a good bit faster than the few clumpers that may grow here, though it is not at all invasive here as long as it is not grown on a stream bank.

Somewhat ironically, the California Invasive Plant web page on Arundo donax actually has some incredible pictures of it growing in the wild:

http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ip ... er=182.php

[stevelau1911]

The thing that probably made it so biased is because the article is based upon the testimony of 1 woman and then he writes an article without any research, facts, or at least some source of legitimate information to back up his claims. Now some people who are looking into buying bamboo will be scared so I guess most people on this forum are on you on this one rfgpitt.

[Kyuzo]

I also sent an email urging repentance! I hate seeing common, though mistaken, viewpoints perpetuated in this way. You can always spot an article that was researched casually or with an agenda!

[rfgpitt]

Thank you guys so much for the quick responses. I was totally swamped today with work and trying to do some family stuff tonight while getting by on one leg (1 more month non weight bearing on crutches!).

Anyway, I plan to follow up if I don't get a reply in a few days or see this guy take action on his error filled article. Please continue to post if you send him or others from this paper your thoughts. For now, I'm posting a link to a contact page that has various phone numbers including his - enjoy! (and behave)

Post Gazette contacts

[ocimum_nate]

Hello Kevin
There are spreading bamboo and clumping bamboo. Just like Maples there are good and refined species like Japanese Maples and weedy aggressive ones like silver maples that don't belong in the landscape. Probably the best candidates for the zone you are reporting for are in the Fargesia species. These plants grow to 6-8' tall and wide and have rhizomes that only spread several inches per year. I have many of these planted in my yard and have not had any spread issues.
I am attaching a link to some pictures of some of my plants.
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/Na ... C_0354.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/Na ... C_0418.jpg

Nathan Abbott

What an idiot
Reminds me of some of the managers that I worked with at the nursery. They they refused to open their minds. I sold a lot of F. rufa to customers and they just thought that I was crazy.

[watchnerd]

The thing that probably made it so biased is because the article is based upon the testimony of 1 woman and then he writes an article without any research, facts, or at least some source of legitimate information to back up his claims. Now some people who are looking into buying bamboo will be scared so I guess most people on this forum are on you on this one rfgpitt.

I deal with journalists all the time in my job. Sadly, his poorly researched story is the norm for journalists these days. Fact checking and deep research is a thing of the past at all except the most elite publications.

[zxylene]

Nice pics Nate 'rufa' is one of the next boos I want to get. I was thinking similar thing I have maple trees all over the place and if I left them go for a few months they would be three foot tall all over the place. Not to mention the briars and my lawn any alternatives to grass it take the most maintenance of anything around the house I need to mow it for al least 1 hour every week and really only grows nice where I don't want it. Bamboo so far is pretty simple I don't have to worry about seeds or parts of it regrowing everywhere and it expands from the main grove. I have these triangle briar vine things that are taking over everything and smothering plants out and it is seeding all the time.