All About Bamboo

Bamboo is...

Pest-Free & Evergreen. It consists largely of silica, which is not desirable to insects and inhibits diseases. Even deer find bamboo unpalatable. Most bamboos are evergreen in temperate climates.

Diverse & Adaptable. There are 70 genera and 2400 known species. Bamboo adapts as well in sandy soil as it does in clay. Heights range from 2 inches to 100 feet. Culms can be black, blue, yellow, pink, red, brown, or green. Leaves may be green, variegated green and white or green and yellow.

A Native Plant. There is one species that is native to the U.S.– Switch Cane Bamboo (Arundinaria gigantea), whose habitat is the Southeast region of the country. Some of us remember using switch cane for fishing poles when we were children.

Used Throughout the World. Bamboo is part of the fabric of every day life in Eastern cultures and in the Pan Americas. The shoots are used for food much the way we enjoy lettuce and tomato in a sandwich. Bamboo is used extensively as a construction material and is still used as scaffolding in Asia. In America it is revered for its hardiness and evergreen elegance.

Bamboo is Edible. All bamboos are edible. The Phyllostachys are most commonly used for eating because the shoots are large in diameter. The best choice is Phyllostachys dulcis (Sweetshoot bamboo) which has a sweet, nutty flavor with no trace of bitterness

Characteristics

The Growth Pattern of Bamboo differs from that of most woody plants. Once a year, usually in spring, new growth occurs as a bamboo shoot. The shoot emerges from the ground and reaches its full height in 6 to 8 weeks. In Asia and the Pan Americas, some bamboos attain heights of 100’ or more. You can literally watch some bamboos grow 1 ½ inches per hour or about 3 feet in one day.

The Potential Growth of each variety of bamboo is genetically inherent. Plant growth can be accelerated by providing the optimum growing conditions each variety prefers. A larger starter plant (with a larger root system) will establish into a mature grove in a shorter time. A running bamboo in a Number One container will cover an area 10’x10’ square in about 7 years and mature in about 12 years. A #5 container plant will cover an area 10’x10’ in 3 years and mature in about 8 years.

Bamboo is a Member of the Grass Family and likes a well-drained fertile soil of neutral pH (6.5) and high organic content. Bamboo does not appreciate planting where the soil is wet for extended periods of time and will not survive in a marsh or bog.

Types of Bamboo

There are two---

Running Bamboos...

Running Bamboos... Spread by sending out roots, or rhizomes, into the earth to a depth of about one-foot. Some running bamboos are modest growers, while others can be very vigorous and invasive. Giant timber bamboos grow to huge proportions in the Southeast and on the western seaboard.

Runners Fall Into Three Size Categories:

(Giant Bamboo) Phyllostachys. These are the tallest of the species, ranging from 10 feet to over 100 feet. They prefer sun or partial shade.
(Medium-Size Bamboo) Sasa and Indocalamus. Heights range from 4 to 15 feet. A shade to part sun environment is preferred.
(Groundcovers) Pleioblastus. Heights range from 1 to 4 feet. They prefer a sunny area for good foliage and vigo

Clump-Forming Bamboos...

Clump Forming Bamboo Are not invasive, new shoots occur on the outside margin of the parent plant. The Fargesias are the hardiest of all bamboos, remaining evergreen throughout the winter months and tolerating temperatures to -25*F. These bamboos originate in the high altitudes. Fargesia murieliae (Umbrella Bamboo) and Fargesia nitida (Fountain Bamboo) are very similar, with pendulous foliage and a height of about 10 to 12 feet. The major distinction between them is the color of the culms. Murieliae has powdery blue green culms while nitida has powdery purple culms and finer foliage.

Both Fargesia murieliae and Fargesia nitida are magnificent specimen plants. When planted near the edge of a pond, the water will reflect their pendulous silhouette. Fargesias are often used to form a hedge with a wonderful weeping mass of evergreen foliage.

Flowering

Flowering is a fascinating and often misunderstood process. Flowering is a genetic part of a bamboo’s life cycle, which can vary dramatically depending on the species. Some bamboos flower every few years while others flower every 100 years. The widely held perception that flowering results in the demise of the plant is untrue. Regeneration occurs by seedling development or after a few seasons, with the emergence of new, non-flowering shoots. The only way the new varieties of bamboo occur is through genetic mutations carried by the seed produced during flowering.

Seed collected from Fargesia nitida by a Russian expedition to South Gansu Province in 1884-1886 gave the two major cultivars Fargesia nitida and Fargesia murieliae. F. nitida is currently in flower in Europe and is expected to flower in the United States over the next 10 years. It’s interesting to note that the plants produced from the seeds collected in 1884 have flowered approximately 100 years later.

We have stopped selling Fargesia nitida because flowering is imminent but still offer the many named cultivars of Fargesia nitida for sale. The new Fargesia introductions will not flower for 100 years or more.