Bamboo

Planting bamboo

Spring is the perfect time to start working with bamboo and you can plant it in open ground once the frosts are over. Bamboo plants prefer a sunny spot or half shade, with some shelter. Once you have chosen a good spot, you can start planting. Before you start, it's useful to know whether you are dealing with invasive or non-invasive bamboo, as invasive bamboos require a different type of planting to prevent them from spreading. If you're wondering how can you tell if your bamboo is invasive, the answer is that the only way to tell is from the name of the plant. As we said earlier, fargesia is one of the few non-invasive bamboo species so, unless it's a fargesia, you can assume that it is a self-spreading bamboo species. To restrict its spread to some extent, start with a root barrier. First, dig a hole that is about twice as big and deep as the root ball of the bamboo. Then install the root barrier — usually a roll of plastic that you put in the planting hole. Bury the barrier about 60 centimetres into the ground, leaving about 20 centimetres protruding above the ground, to prevent the roots of the plant from growing in all directions. Fill the hole with fresh potting soil and make sure that the root barrier is firmly embedded, then place the root ball of the bamboo plant in the hole just below the surface. Completely fill the hole with potting soil and tamp it down firmly. Finally, make sure that you give it sufficient water.
With a non-invasive bamboo fargesia, you will not need a root barrier but the other steps for planting these bamboos are the same.

Caring for bamboo

Bamboo plants need water quite often and watering is especially important soon after planting, so water them once a day for the first few weeks. After the first few weeks, bamboo plants often get enough water from the rain, but if the leaves start to curl up, this indicates the plant needs extra water. As with other garden plants, you should give it plant food about twice a year to stimulate growth. We recommend using organic fertilisers, which are also good for the soil.
Pruning bamboo plants or bamboo hedges is quite easy; as with other grass species, you can do little wrong. Every year, bamboo plants produce new shoots from within the plant and these shoots grow higher than the old shoots, so the plant gets taller every year. To keep the plant compact, cut the new shoots back between June and August so that they are shorter than the older growth. You can also remove wild-growing branches. With invasive bamboo species, it is important to check the roots as they can sometimes grow over the root barrier. If that happens, cut them back to the root ball.

Buying bamboo

Are you going to buy an invasive or non-invasive bamboo? There are many different types of bamboo plants that create ambiance in any garden, balcony or patio. Each bamboo is a different size and colour and even the stems come in all sorts of beautiful colour combinations — anything from green to aubergine and from yellow to shades of brown. Order your favourite now at Bakker.com.