Alternatives to bamboo?

Evening all.

I want to plant something that will grow to about 7ft tall, but not form a dense screen, and have a very narrow footprint of about 1ft.

Bamboo is the obvious answer, but my one bamboo plant has never done well enough to impress me. Any other ideas please?

 

A sun flower.
Its a tall order.

 

pencil cypress

 

I love that Cypress sal73, reminds me of Southern France - Peter Mayle area

 

I would say it`s one of the most famous Italian native tree , look at it and think about Tuscany.


cluless , any suggestion? do you need ever green , tropical , perennial !!!!!

 

I'm really open to suggestions. It doesn't need to be evergreen, but that would be a plus.

 

There are some lovely tall grasses out there that reach that height, several of which are Miscanthus varieties, not sure if this is the kind of thing your after?

 

mishantus giganteus

arundo donax

arundo donax variegata

pampas grass

 

Possibly. I've just had a quick googling session for them. Early indications suggest it could be an option.

 

do you know that will die down in winter and will only reach that high by the end of the season?

 

No. Back to the drawing board I guess.

 

that why I was asking , do you need a fast growing or doesn't matter?

 

Strictly speaking they are still there through the winter but the top growth "dies" turning lovely shades of brown, they look great on frosty mornings. You then chop them down as new growth emerges in the spring, so you are left with a brief period when there won't be anything there until the new growth gets taller...

 

Its to soften up the boundary fence where the patio meets it.

I'm wondering about silver birch in large containers now. I've seen it done in the beer garden of a local pub, and it looks really nice.

 

belive or not I was about to suggest himalayan birch , it actually almost pure white really nice