Bamboo Sourcery

We are in the market for some bamboo and really wanted to see what was available. On the way up to Sebastopol, in the middle of the day on a Friday, we wondered if the trip would be worth it. Once you drive through Sebastopol, which is super quaint, you drive a little more through the back woods to finally arrive at this verdant bamboo tree farm. We brought along our puppy, and from the moment we stepped out of the farm everyone was in heaven. The young man who was to be our bamboo guide for the next hour and a half also had a puppy, though a much larger breed. Our dogs played off leash as we learned about many of the varieties they have on hand.
It was really an enjoyable experience. We finally narrowed our choice to Boliana Bolina. We had to skiddadle to beat the traffic back (we didn’t beat it) so we left the exact plant choice up to the staff. They picked out beautiful specimens and delivered them. The person delivering even helped me get them up the side stairs to my back yard.
Not only was getting the right plants worth out time, but our time was enjoyably spent walking through a beautiful bamboo farm.

really worth a visit for anyone within 2 hour drive. bring a pinic lunch, call ahead so they can have someone show you around. we bought a black stem bamboo, 12 foot tall and they also built a custom redwood container for us.
it’s 7 acre of bamboo, take a date and have a magical afternoon.

Great prices, great product, very nice staff. My landscape designer recommended this place, and it was a great tip. I wasn’t able to drive out there, so I called and ordered 10 25-​gallon containers of Buddha’s Belly and 25 5-​gallon containers of black bamboo for my front and back yards. Even with the delivery fee to Berkeley, the total cost was much lower than if I bought everything from a local nursery (e.g. East Bay Nursery, Orchid Nursery, Cactus Jungle, etc.). The bamboo they hand-​picked looks awesome. I also received some solid advice from Joe, one of the owners. If you need to buy bamboo in large quantities, this is the place (because a lot of other places don’t even carry that much stock). If you just need one or two plants and don’t live close to Sebastopol, then buying at one of the aforementioned places is fine.

I have had two absolutely wonderful experiences with Bamboo Sourcery. Both involved big jobs installing bamboo or building a bamboo fence. In both cases the projects were done on time and *under* budget by Joe Ruffato and his assistants. They were each professional, neat, courteous, hard working, respectful of my yard, and extremely accommodating to my picky requests. And where there were tiny problems, they went out of their way to make it better. In one case, where I was kind of unhappy with the way a fence was built – it was built to my neighbor’s specifications but not mine – Joe did some extra work to make it right for me. He didn’t have to do that. Frankly I was kind of a big baby about the whole thing. But he was totally concerned about making me happy because he gets it: happy customers recommend companies to others – as I am doing here, totally unsolicited. I would do business with Bamboo Sourcery again, for sure.

Made an appointment and drove over 90 minutes to get here. Unfortunately, when we arrived they had no record of our appointment. They will still able to accommodate us and we drove home with two tall (almost twice as tall as me) plants. It took longer than we expected (about two hours) due to a lack of customer service but overall it was a good experience and we got a great deal.

The price is cheaper than some of the stores but you get less than what you paid. Adding the shipping cost, it is a lot more expensive. The 10 inch 5 gallon bamboo could be a single stem of very short and thin bamboo. Unfortunately, there is no stated condition on how much bamboo you are getting in a 5 gallon 10 inch pot. I have looked at multiple local stores, you will get a lot more there.

Wow, nice.
I drove two hours and it was worth it!
At first skeptical of having to have a guided tour just to buy what I thought I already knew I wanted, the guide was helpful and we were able to pick out the best plants — better than the ones that would have been mailed to me.
Half the price of the local bamboo store in Berkeley, and a huge selection…
Nice folks.

Called the place to consult about the bamboo we purchased because it hasn’t been doing well since we bought it approximately six months ago. We are pretty good with plants and never had problems growing or maintaining our plants. Paid a lot money for it and surprised to find the bamboo is such a poor state. The person seemed to think that it will bounce back in Spring. I hope she is right…

Being a lover of bamboo, I was delighted to discover The Bamboo Sourcery and its amazingly diverse collection different varieties of bamboo. I found the people who work there to be very warm-​hearted, knowledgeable, and helpful.
If there were six stars to give, I would give the Sourcery six.
Be sure to call ahead for an appointment… and when you find the place, prepare to enter a world of swaying, timeless, musical bamboo. I suggest leaving some extra time to be able to fully soak in the poetry of the experience.

I have always loved bamboo and finally have the right spot for it at home. After checking out several local nurseries, I wanted to have more choices for my shady spot so a road trip to Bamboo Sourcery was in order. They were very helpful finding the right bamboo for my shady spot. They have been transplanted and look great!
They lost one star for what my friend and I both thought was a lack of engaging customer service.

I drove up from the Los Angeles area to buy my bamboo. There are acres of all varities of bamboo in pots. I requested a specific kind and found myself following the gardener up a steep hill, at a fast pace, to make my choice of plants. They would probably bring the plant to you if you requested it. The hike was nice, Beautiful hilly grounds covered in bamoo. Everyone was very helpful. A year later, my plants have adjusted to the Southern Ca. climate and are doing very well. I love them.

These are the guys to get your bamboo from. They only do Bamboo, unlike your run-​of-​the-​mill nursery, and as such, they can tailor your choices to exactly where/​when/​why you want to plant it.
All the specimens (and they have hundreds) are very healthy and will take off after only a season or two. Their prices are very reasonable, as well.
They also have whatever supplies you’ll need: rhizome barrier, bamboo food, books, etc.
When you make an appointment, make sure to ask that you’re not the first appointment of the day. We got a morning appointment (I want to say it was 9am, but it may have been 10 or so) and we ended up waiting an hour and a half past our appt time because the guy wasn’t on-​site, but were told he’d be right with us the entire time. We could only walk around so long until we realised what was happening. By then, another appt showed up, and they ended up being seen first. That was a real drag.

Once I got past the numerical eeriness of the street address, it was worth the drive to see their extensive selection of bamboo species. They have a huge list, and you can see the different species, in pots, planters, and in the ground. Acres. [Yeah, I don’t know how big an acre really is, but I’m sure they have ACRES!]. Running or clumping bamboo, they have it.
Very knowledgeable staff can answer all of your questions. Well, they answered all my questions. So if you are interested in starting your own little bamboo forest, this is a good place to start.
You have to make an appointment, so call in advance, they are very busy this time of year.