Redwing blackbirds and cardinals constantly fly in and out of the swaying canes. All of our neighbors’ yards are now completely blocked off by clumping and running bamboos planted along fence lines. Other varieties include mid-size clumping bamboos that grow from 20-feet to 35-feet tall and smaller varieties that will stay under 15 feet. Some are 30- to 50-feet tall and still growing bigger year by year. Now, two decades after our first plantings, our land is surrounded by beautiful groves of bamboo. We learned many important lessons through trial and error, extensive reading and by speaking with and visiting other bamboo growers in Florida and around the country. Our original need was for privacy and since we loved the look, sound and feel of bamboo, we set about encircling our property with privacy hedges of the giant grass. A few small slash pines and scrub oaks provided only minimal shade and did a poor job of shielding the view of our neighbor’s messy yard.

When we initially purchased the land, very few plants were growing on our 50 acres. We have been collecting and propagating clumping and running varieties of bamboos at our Central Florida farmstead since 1991.

Golden oaks farm ocala fl