How to grow bamboo: growing conditions, planting, maintenance By Martin 5 Comments how to grow bamboo 31 Bamboo is undoubtedly one of my favourite plants. I almost always use it in gardens I create. Bamboo has striking presence. It can be used as a specimen plant – a star in the border, like this phyllostachys nigra – or as a wonderful screen. Learning how to grow bamboo is pretty straightforward. I’ll take you through the important points in this article. What is bamboo? Bamboo belongs to the grass family (Poaceae). Species of Bamboo are native to most continents, except Europe. Most of today’s cultivated species originate from China, Japan or South and Central America. Many of these species hail from mountainous regions or lowland plains of Asia where, in both cases, winter temperatures can drop as low as -25 to -30 degree Celsius (-15 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit). The consequent hardiness of these bamboos makes them ideal plants for the temperate regions of Europe and North America. In addition, there are a number of tropical species of bamboo which originate from Africa, Australia and tropical parts of Asia. These require frost free conditions to survive in home gardens, but they are often amongst the most spectacular specimens you will find. What are the main different types of bamboo? The principal distinction among different types of bamboo relates to the plants’ root systems. This is really important for home gardeners, because it can make the difference between selecting a species that suits your situation perfectly and one that takes over you garden (and your neighbour’s as well.) Put simply, most bamboos either have a running root system (technically called a leptomorph system) or a clumping (or pachymorph) root system. To explain the difference, it helps to understand some of the botany. Bamboo root systems comprise rhizomes and roots. Botanically, rhizomes are underground stems. This means that like above ground stems they have nodes, which are the parts of the stem from which new shoots emerge. In bamboo, the difference between running and clumping forms arises as a result of the size of the space between the nodes on the rhizome (the internodes). Clumping forms have short internodes, which means that new culms are produced close to each other. Running forms have much longer internodes. The rhizome stretches out and may reach lengths equivalent to the height of an above ground culm, with new individual shoots growing up from any of the nodes along its length. Whilst the tendency of each form to run or clump can be a bit variable according to the particular conditions a plant is grown in, this distinction is one that it will always pay to have in mind when selecting bamboo for your garden. What growing conditions does Bamboo need? The degree of sun or shade that an individual species requires or will tolerate, is always a function of that particular species. Likewise, a bamboo’s frost hardiness varies from species to species. You will therefore always need to check these factors in relation to any particular species you are interested in growing. how to grow bamboo himalaycalamus Nevertheless, there are some common features relating to bamboo growing conditions that should be mentioned here. Firstly, it is worth noting that bamboos are tough plants and will tolerate a degree of neglect. Indeed, where space is an issue, their growth can be kept in check if they are fed sparingly after planting. Related to this is the fact that bamboos can be planted in many different soil types. I recall no noticeable difference in the healthiness of two plants of the same species which I planted in two different parts of a garden where the soil type in each area was quite different – one was heavy clay, the other a nice open loam. Interestingly, these were Phyllostachys bambusoides ‘Holochrysa’, which is a running species, and the specimen in the loam had a much greater tendency to run than the one in the clay. This seems to bear out the observation above about the impact of growing conditions on these characteristics. Thirdly, whilst they need plentiful watering during the growing season (see below), bamboos will not generally tolerate poorly drained soil. So in heavy soils it is important to incorporate gravel, grit or other material to open up the soil so as to prevent waterlogging. How to plant bamboo When planting bamboo, you will need to have regard to the eventual diameter of the plant and locate it where its natural growth will not interfere with existing features, such as paths or boundaries. You will also need to decide whether you want to install some kind of barrier to restrict the spread of the plant. As indicated, this will be necessary in most home gardens for running species. But it may even be necessary clumping species if space is at a premium. Purpose-made bamboo root barriers, like the one below, can be installed. These are usually available from bamboo retailers. But it is also possible to make use of other impenetrable material, like offcuts of paving or hard plastics, set vertically around the edge of the planting hole. These should be placed so that at least 3 inches (75cm) of the material is above ground. gardeningstepbystep/how-to-grow-bamboo/
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 00:25:51 +0000
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