United Kingdom 
hello. we have a small garden which is very overlooked by our neighbours, although we get along fine we both would like more privacy - we have a fence with a narrow 18inch pebbled border - i have already put trellis on top of the fence and planted honeysuckle - is there any bamboo that would work in such a narrow border? we planted laurel and have been told that if we keep it clipped well it will provide the privacy we want? hope this makes sense!
5 Apr, 2012
Answers
when you get your bamboo going cut out any thin shoots you dont want and this will force the thicker taller stems up taller . bamboo never gets fatter than when it comes out of the ground like wood does so you can nip out the thin ones strate away . i would get the thicker yellow veriaty sorry i cant do lattin names lol , as these naturaly get taller than the commen green ones . mine in 3 years is 25 feet . as bamboo sais definatly put the membrane in .
8 Apr, 2012
You can certainly use bamboo, but you'd need to insert a root rhizome barrier 18 inches deep vertically into the soil, surrounding the area you want the bamboo to fill up, or you're in danger of its spreading everywhere with most of them these days. Have a look at Phyllostachys nigra or aureum, both get about 13 feet tall.
It sounds as if the privacy you're trying to achieve is at ground level rather than privacy from neighbour's bedroom windows, etc. I don't know which laurel you've used, so hard to comment on that.
5 Apr, 2012