A young bamboo
how tall it has grown,
without the slightest help in the world.
-Japanese Haiku
With over 1000 species of bamboo in 90 genera, there is a bamboo plant option for everyone. While it can seem overwhelming to choose one, don’t get discouraged. The benefits that bamboo can bring to your garden, ranging from helping the environment to beautifying your yard, make planting it worth your while.
Timber and mid-Sized Bamboo species are the most common genus found in the temperate world. They include a wide range of heights from P. aurea “Koi” bamboo which barely reaches 20 feet to P. edium “Moso” bamboo which can grow to 70 feet tall. Considered to be the classic type of bamboo, these species are strong, resilient and generally fast-spreading (earning them the name running bamboo). For every climate, a plant can be found as they are generally able to withstand heat, cold and drought. Impressively tall, these species also have the characteristics of robust culms with a pair of branches at each node and a sulcus (an indentation on the side of the culm above the branches). For anyone thinking they would sacrifice color to have a bamboo garden, the plants in this grouping have a variety of culm colors ranging from butterscotch gold to dark green to a blush red. And for those wanting to grow a privacy hedge quickly, any plant species from this group will do the trick. During shooting season, these new culms can grow over a foot a day!
However, not all species grow as quickly as that. For those looking for simple ground cover Bamboo, there are species for you as well. Pygmy Bamboo is often used in Japanese gardens and is usually clipped to a height of only a few inches while sasaella ramosa is a fairly sun tolerant and makes a nice hedge of green foliage.
Clumping bamboo is another grouping of plant species that is defined as having a non-invasive rhizome structure which is different from the running bamboo. Clumpers form a tight cluster of gently arching culms extending from a relatively small root mass. Each underground bud pushes upward forming culms, and do not become long running rhizomes such as happens in the timber bamboos. Instead, they grow outward in a circular formation of 2 to 12 inches per year. Canopy growth is also slow and height range maturity is between 10 and 20 feet for most species. The exception to this rule is some tropical and subtropical species which can reach 50 feet or more in the US, given hot, southern climates.
Clumping bamboo is the bamboo plant to try to get over any fear of bamboo running amok in your garden and is the most easily introduced species into gardens. It is a great low maintenance option to running bamboos and is generally preferred by landscapers and gardeners. Fargesia sp. ‘Rufa’ with plumes of feather-like foliage provide wonderful accent to the small urban garden while larger species such as F. robusta create dense evergreen privacy screens to over 15 feet. And there are enough options within the family of clumping bamboo to offer cold-hardy clumping bamboo such as Bambusa multiplex to cold-sensitive clumping bamboo such as chusquea delicatula.
Make sure to check out regional recommendations and this list of hardy bamboo options to choose the right type for your garden.
Once your bamboo begins to grow, enjoy the sights and sounds, and do some minor harvesting of your own to cook with or create bamboo crafts with. Visit Green Earth News sections on Bamboo Flavors and Bamboo Crafts to get inspired!
For enjoying your bamboo garden, get comfortable in bamboo pants or down and dirty in the garden with tunics for women that are great for work and play.
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