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How to grow bamboo and the best varieties for gardens
With their colourful stems, upright habit and evergreen leaves, bamboos make a striking addition to the garden, bringing structure and movement as they sway in the breeze. However, these statuesque plants have had some bad press, with stories of homeowners spending thousands of pounds to remove out-of-control invasive bamboos. But it needn’t be this way if you choose the right variety in the first place.
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Key facts
- Plant type - Perennial
- Position - Sun or shade
- Soil - Any moist, fertile soil
Best bamboo for the garden
Fargesia
Fargesia nitida varieties all have an elegant umbrella form.
'Black Pearl’ will eventually grow to 3-4 metres tall and has dramatic purple-black stems.
Where to buy: J Parker's
F. rufa is an excellent choice for small gardens, reaching a maximum height of around 3 metres and forming a dense clump that can be clipped as a hedge.
Where to buy: Crocus; You Garden
F. robusta can reach 4 metres tall, with pale green culms that become more yellow with age, and culm sheaths that cling to the stems to create an attractive patchwork effect.
Where to buy: The Palm Centre
Phyllostachys
These are all running bamboos, but may not do so until mature; it’s best to use a barrier to restrict their spread.
P. bissetii is widely sold but a bit boring, although its deep-green canes can form an impressive screen or hedge.
Where to buy: Crocus
For more colour, choose P. aureosulcata f. aureocaulis, the golden grove bamboo.
Where to buy: The Palm Centre
P. aureosulcata f. spectabilis has a green stripe in the groove of its golden culms. Both will reach a height of 4-8 metres and a spread of 4 metres.
Where to buy: Jacksons Nurseries
For black stems, pick P. nigra, but keep an eye on it as it can suddenly run.
Where to buy: J Parker's
Borinda
Borinda make wonderful clump-forming specimens with thick, dusty-blue culms. They are tricky to propagate and thus expensive; you’ll find them at specialist nurseries.
Shibataea
Shibataea kumasaca is a genuinely dwarf bamboo, reaching a height of 1.5 metres and forming a dense, compact clump which has small, dark-green leaves.
Where to buy: Jacksons Nurseries
Bamboo growth explained: runners vs clump-forming
Bamboos come in two main types: runners and clump-forming. Running bamboos have rhizomes that extend below ground, with new buds forming all along the length to emerge as new culms (stems). The tip of this rhizome can theoretically continue extending indefinitely. Clump-forming bamboos grow from rhizomes that curve upwards at the tip to create just one new culm. These types can still grow into a large clump but won’t send up a new stem many metres away from the plant.
How to constrain bamboos
Many of the bamboos you’ll find in garden centres are running types but may be described as forming a clump. Phyllostachys are among the most widely sold in the UK and, while many are well behaved, they all have the capability to spread via running rhizomes.
Whichever bamboo you choose, it’s best to install barriers to prevent it becoming invasive, especially if you’re planting alongside a boundary with a neighbouring property. Rhizome barriers – essentially strips of strong plastic or textile material – will prevent bamboo roots from spreading beyond them. They take work to install but will last for years. Most roots are in the top 30cm of soil, so any barrier needs to be at least 50cm deep.
A cheaper alternative to a rhizome barrier is to use damp-proof membrane. Another option is to use recycled concrete paving slabs arranged as a three-sided box and overlapping so there are no gaps between the slabs. Angle any barrier slightly outwards and protruding above the ground so that any surface rhizomes are prevented from spreading.
Bamboos to avoid
Several species are best avoided in the average garden. The one you’re most likely to find is Pseudosasa japonica, a vigorous, fast-growing running bamboo that can form a dense thicket up to 6 metres tall.
Sasa palmata f. nebulosa is commonly sold, but it’s an aggressive plant that will spread rapidly. It can be useful for stabilising slopes, but otherwise this species is best contained in a pot or avoided altogether.
Chimonobambusa, the walking stick bamboo, is considered invasive; it can go 10 metres underground and then pop up new culms. This is a shame, as the plants are attractive with distinctive knobbly canes used for Chinese walking sticks.
With an ultimate spread of up to 8 metres, indocalamus should also be considered invasive. It has large leaves, the largest of all hardy bamboos, which creates a tropical effect. It’s best avoided or grown in containers.
How to deal with invasive bamboo
If you’ve inherited a bamboo that’s getting out of control, first dig a trench around the clump. The trench should be 30cm deep and the width of a spade’s blade all around the bamboo. Sever rhizomes and remove sections that extend beyond the trench, taking care to remove all pieces of rhizome, as these can regrow. You can do this annually to prevent the clump spreading.
For extra protection, install a physical barrier inside the trench and remove all rhizomes that have already spread beyond it. Don’t put them on your compost heap; they can still grow there.
How to kill bamboo
Removing an entire clump of bamboo is a big job requiring lots of digging. You’ll need to dig down around 1 metre and remove all scraps of rhizome and any sections that have spread away from the main clump. Alternatively, call in a specialist bamboo-removal contractor. They may use a combination of excavation and weedkillers to ensure complete removal.
Caring for bamboo
How and where to grow
Bamboos are generally unfussy about where they’re planted, tolerating both sun and shade and any moist fertile soil. They’re evergreen, so are ideal specimen plants and even as hedging. Being giant grasses, bamboos can also do well in pots as long as they’re kept well watered; use a Best Buy compost for containers.
Container planting will restrict their height and spread compared with growing in the ground, but it allows you to move your plants to provide screening or a focal point. Tall, narrow pots may look appealing but can easily topple over; a wide, shallow container is best for stability and because bamboos have relatively shallow roots.
Feeding
Established bamboos need little maintenance aside from ensuring they don’t dry out. You can use a high-nitrogen feed, but the best feed is their own leaves – spread them on the ground as a mulch.
Pruning
Remove weak or dead canes, cutting them down to the ground with loppers, a pruning saw or secateurs. Remove some of the lower leaves to show off more of the coloured stems.
Flowering
This is quite rare in bamboos. The flowers aren’t attractive like grass seedheads; they’re more like rice grains. The process isn’t fully understood but, broadly speaking, all bamboos of the same type flower at the same time over a period of a year or two, wherever they are in the world. Bamboos generally die after flowering, having dispersed all their seeds in this gregarious flowering process.
Where to see bamboo
For this article we spoke to Helen Chen, who holds a satellite National Collection at her garden in Suffolk. The main collection is in Bodmin, Cornwall and is open by appointment. Go to plantheritage.org.uk for further details. Cambridge University Botanic Garden was the first outdoor bamboo garden in the UK and still has a good range of plants; there’s also a bamboo garden at Kew. The Bamboo Society (bamboo-society.org.uk) lists other places to see bamboo.