Using bamboo in your garden

There are many ways to use bamboo in your garden design. It can be used as a hedge or screen to provide privacy from your neighbors, in containers for your terrace or patio or as means of creating your own secret bamboo forest to wander through. It mixes well with both perennials and annuals and can be used as a tall or medium background plant, an accent plant or as a low border or ground cover plant depending upon the variety you choose.

An interesting fact about bamboo is that the main stems (referred to as culms or canes) emerge from the ground in the diameter that they will always be. And, the next season’s new culms usually emerge wider in diameter and grow to be taller than the older canes. Therefore, the youngest canes in your planting are the thickest and tallest.

Bamboo comes in a variety of heights and can be trimmed from the top if it gets too tall. Generally speaking the larger bamboos like yellow groove prefer several hours a day of direct sunlight, while the smaller bamboos (under 20 feet tall), can tolerate partly shady conditions.

When using bamboo as a screen or hedge you want to treat the whole area by laying down good compost or manure, so when it spreads it travels into good soil. When planting very tall and slender bamboos, they may need to be staked to prevent wind from uprooting them or damaging newly formed roots. Generally, smaller bamboo do not need to be staked because the rootball is big enough to support the plant. Generally speaking, after five years under good growing conditions, a single planting will yield 30 to 40 culms, 3/4 inches in diameter and up to 20 feet high (dependent upon which variety you choose.)

See www.scottishbamboo.com for over 40 varieties of hardy bamboo ideal for the cooler UK climate.