Hi Ranger and Ric
>>Just to follow up on Ric's question about water... Does bamboo consume lots of waterlike willow and cottonwood trees?
I haven't personally measured their consumption, bamboo copes with dry and damp soil conditions as far as I know, a search for 'bamboo society' in a search engine and a couple of library books would make for a good read.
http://www.bamboogarden.com looks like a good starting point
>>Does bamboo grow in the water where I couldn't hit them with a bushhog? If so, how deep? Do they all just spread via rhizomes or do any have seeds carried by air?
You would have to look over each species of bamboo for growing habits. Bamboo's are quirky seeders, occasionally they go to seed and die, starting again from seed... I have seen them grow up to the water margin and no further... Some species do have the ability to 'adapt' to an aquatic growing position over time, some do it attractively like calla and canna some become a pain in the 'grass' to control, crab grass and Bermuda grass are a swine to tidy up....
I have heard of folk, disgruntled with their neighbors, of being very happy with particular bamboo varieties, planting them as an instrument of malice to consume their neighbors plot when they sell up and leave. Some bamboo rhisome's spread deep, remorselessly at a rate of 20 feet per year
>>Regarding pampas grass... How does it spread? Would it be likely to get out of control? Can you recommend any websites with pictures and more information on it?
Pampas has well known growing habits, its a big bold foliage clump forming plant, very tough, a great border plant to create a barrier six foot wide per plant, easy to control (pour gas on it, let it soak in, toss a flame on it from a safe distance, then 'round up' finishes it off) An image search of 'pampas grass' should locate some very good horticulture sources...
>>I checked some websites on Miscanthus & now have a question on that plant. There was considerable concern for frost damage & recommendations to cover with mulch or thick straw in winter. Would this be a problem in NC?
Sounds like an urban legend that, the miscanthus I've come across have been among the hardiest plants I ever saw, someone might be confusing them with sugar cane or ginger plants perhaps, the only problem with winters and miscanthus might be bad snow or freezing rain making a mess of a lot of top heavy foliage. Miscanthus is not happy in ground that is always saturated so not there is not much risk of it sprawling into a native pond
Regards, andy
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