Perimeter Fence

[John]

     While there is a lot of clearing and grading to do, starting with the fence is helping me clarify the limits of my garden.  The fence is in Kenninji style and at present only the oyabashira (vertical supports) and tateko (vertical strips that make up the actual fence) are installed.  The Kasa-dake (cap) and oshibuchi (horizontal strips to hide the nail heads) will be installed later.  I have a fair amount of bamboo available for the project but not an unlimited amount so some minor design changes may be required.  Any comments or suggestions are welcome.   

[JBaymore]

Lookin' great so far John.

Where did you get all the bamboo you mention?

best,

.................john

[Al]

Beautiful work John!!   Can't wait to see the progression!

Al

[Jando]

Can't wait to see the finished product, it looks great so far.

June

[Myro]

It's really huge amount of bamboo you have used for now.
Very nice work John. Waiting for progression.
Myro

[John]

It is a huge amount of bamboo, about 18 stalks per 8' section (a bit more than I had counted on).  Many years ago someone in our area planted this bamboo before many of the houses were built in our neighborhood.  It has become very invasive and is now about a 4 acre grove.  One of my neighbors is very happy to take as much as I want and I'm happy to accommodate her.  The grove is only about 200 meters from our home.  I am very fortunate!  -John

[JBaymore]

The grove is only about 200 meters from our home.  I am very fortunate!  -John

Nice to have that kind of source.  Is the location such that you can include it as "borrowed scenery"?

best,

................john

[dripworld]

The fence was beautifully made and i never seen such fence as it is costed .we here use only some bamboos and their would be some gap with each bamboo.
Please post your inner side of images i am eager to see them

[John]

     The bamboo grove is through some woods so, unfortunately, I can't incorporate it into my plan.  Also, I'm very reluctant to use living plants as the climate here is ideal and it becomes very invasive, very quickly.  I've thought a nice clump of black bamboo would be very attractive component of the garden but in 5 years it would be all over the neighborhood!  We have a similar problem with wisteria which can also become very invasive.
     My information source for this fence is "Building Bamboo Fences" by Isao Yoshikawa.  His descriptions and instructions are very clear and understandable even for a 1st time builder.  I have taken liberties, however.  The vertical strips of bamboo, tateko, are predrilled and nailed into horizontal supports, called dobuchi.  In the book Mr. Yoshikawa calls for bamboo dobuchi but I've substituted pressure treated (PT) wood.  I'll supply a photo of the back of the fence in the next few days.  Mr. Yoshikawa also calls for a round vertical support (oyabashira) at each end of a fence section but I'm using PT 4"X4"X8' (8.9cmX8.9cmX2.44m) posts buried 2' (.60m) into the ground.
     Each of the tateko are a quarter of one bamboo cane.  These are produced using a bamboo splitter (I'm sorry, I don't know the Japanese name for this tool.) which I purchased from Hida Tool & Hardware Co., San Francisco, CA.  It does a very nice job and is much easier than using a power tool like a band saw (and considerably cheaper).  After splitting the interior of the bamboo is cleaned up a bit with a small camp axe or machete.
     Hope this answers some of your questions.  -John

 

[JBaymore]

John,

You can incorporate underground rizome barriers that will prevent the speading of the running bamboo.  It will require some serious digging.... but it can be done.

Thanks for the info.

best,

..................john

[don]

John, did you check out the section on Kennin-ji fence constriction on Japanesegardening.org?  I use pressure treated there.

[John]

I did and found it very helpful.  As a matter of fact the visuals gave me the courage to attempt it!!!

[kikujunjo]

”These are produced using a bamboo splitter (I'm sorry, I don't know the Japanese name for this tool.)”

That tool is called a ta-ke-wari-ki (?), or sometimes just 'ta-ke-wari'.

Literally, ? is 'bamboo (?) splitting (??) implement (?)'

[John]

     Thanks, very much!  I always like to know the proper name for things!  As a sailor I've always felt it useful and timely to be able to say something more than, "Hey, grab that thing over there!".
     We're taking a little break from the garden.  We're visiting my daughter in New Hampshire for a few days.  What a wonderful break from the heat of Georgia!

[K.T. Cannon-Eger]

Bamboo root barriers can be quite a project. In Hawaii, we once dealt with running bamboo coming uphill from a gulch, spreading through a pasture and popping up in all the garden beds. There was no hope of eradicating it in the beds until a barrier was installed. Rented a trencher from Home Depot and went down 22 inches as the local bamboo expert said roots would stop at 18 inches. Installed a long rectangular piece of heavy duty pond liner in a J shape with the taller side toward the protected bed. That J shape was then filled with 6 inch rock from the local quarry. For the next year we patiently removed every bamboo root we could find from all the beds. Later, while visiting California, I heard Takeo Uesugi describing bamboo root barriers installed at the renovated James Irving Japanese Garden in Los Angeles. They went down 3 to 4 feet with concrete.