My husband was holding tree...that is all he has to do with trees...he was outside for 5 minutes to hold it...outdoor work is my work (the woman - LOL) I was not trying for "instant gratification"! That tree is from our local landscaping/tree place and I bought the smallest River Birch that they sell! There were 3 sizes of trees larger than this. I had said it was 5 ft...apparently it is bigger than that as my husband is 6 ft...distance and measurements are not my thing....apparently When I took this out of the pot, it had this 3 clump all connected to 1 root ball, and then a 1 trunk with roots girdling it onto the 3 clump. So, I gently removed the 1 trunk and gave that away to someone and only planted the 1 rootball with 3 trunks thinking that then I would have less girdling issues later in life... accurate thinking? Yes, time of year planting is not ideal...I have to do things slowly around the house as I have time as I have little kids to tend to while I do the outside work (and no mature trees to tie them to to keep them in the yard-just kidding). Also, I am a weakling and it takes me longer than it should to dig holes ;)

Mike- If you're talking about filling a 10' wide space with 3 B. lako of that size, I think -- depending on your growing conditions -- that it will be a good 5 years before you get them to approximate a filled-in hedge...or even have to think about topping them. The other concern I have about B. lako (and other large bamboo) is that, once it matures, it tends to have less foliage near the ground than the top, so you could be topping a lot of the higher up foliage, and leaving lower culms that look a little bare. If you must top, don't do all the culms at the same height, so it will look a little more natural. I know B. lako is beautiful, but I also have an alternate suggestion: get a smaller clumper (say, Bambusa multiplex 'Golden goddess'), that you won't have to crop. Or get an open clumper, like Yushania anceps, which acts like a clumper, but will spread out faster than a true clumper. However, it won't be so fast that you can't easily rhizome prune if it starts to move in the wrong direction (it simply doesn't send out long runners), and it only reaches a height of 12', so you wouldn't have to top it. Here is a picture of 3 of them (they're to the right of the lantern) that I planted against a 9' high fence. That was right after planting; they've filled out nicely over the last 3 years, but I don't have a picture of that since I sold that house. My only concern in making this recommendation to you is that Y. anceps prefers something less than full sun, and your spot looks pretty sunny. Maybe someone here has some experience with growing it in your conditions.

Thanks! The tight space is misleading because of the odd camera angle. You are seeing part of the smaller clump. This picture was taken during the home inspection to show the general side area looking back along a patio wall. 180 degrees around and it is more open. The second, larger clump is much bigger and has more area around it. I will post something on Craigslist when I dig it up later. I'm just not a fan of the way it looks, plus having to trim it. Also it tends to shed leaves a lot, which may or may not be normal. I'm sure the previous owners liked the bamboo though. I'd rather have some evergreen shrubs or small trees in that location. I will probably end up putting a couple of pineapple guavas there. Thanks for the postings and replies :-) Ed

i have recently been aquiring and growing various types of bamboo and done research for several weeks now. but one thing i can;t seem to find is a Relatively Close estimation on average rainfall in the native climate of Moso Bamboo. actually now that i think of it i could just look up the location of groves in china and then look at the rain fall in that area. ok but on to the next topic. RESPONCE @ kudzu9: Like Mike_Marietta_SC_z8a had said, those could be 2 reasons, another reason is when you perchase moso from a supplier such as Lewis Bamboo, they trip the bamboo top to fit it to the box. i buy most of my bamboo from them, if you get 3 gallon sizes and up the tops will be trimmed. trippimg the top greatly hinders Moso and other giant bamboos. when the shoots grow, as previously stated in this thread, the shoots will basically syphon vital exsessive nutrients from the neighboring culms. so when you order bamboo that has had the culms trimmed but the rhizomes are still large and will be producing large shoots, then the new shoots will not be able to syphon the much needed nutrients from the other culms. so if you grow bamboo from seeds then they should not be trimmed, also as previously stated any damage to the root systems will also greatly hinder the transfer of nutrients. then the roots take damage or are bent it's like kinking a water hose that feeds the new shoots. this also is regretably a more then likely happening from ordering bamboos. for both reasons i'd recommend buying either 2 gallon sizes or buying them as seeds from a reliable source. GROWTH RATE: from what i have gathered most bamboos Culms grow +30% in hight each year and the rhizomes can grow anywhere from 2-5 feet a year depending on conditions. also the rhizomes have 2 "rumors" as to how far out they can grow which i can't seem to disprove one or the other as of yet. 1 rumor is they can grow as far out as the tallest current Culm. the other rumor is they can grow indeffinately depending on soil conditions and as long as the newer culms increase in size. So say the "source Point" of your bamboo has a culm of 80' high, then the rhizome can grow up to 80' from that spot; however say down that rhizome about 20 feet away from the source location there is a newer 80' tall culm. then that new culm can have up to another 80' away from it. so it could grow 100' from the plant site at that point, and so on. Finally: i live in the houston texas area and will be growing a japanese / tropical styled grove. so far i'm planning on using "Weavers Bamboo" for the primary walls around this 1-2 acre grove, with Nigra Black in the corners, with Moso and Giant Grey Henon throughout. i was also considering adding Windmills and Blue Palms inside near an elaborate bamboo, shishi odoshi styled fountain and underground irrigation systems invovling soaker hoses, if anyone else can think of some black, jade, or rich dark green colored plants, then please toss me an email. hopefully i'll have this grove up and running in a few years in which case anyone would be welcome to visit the grove.