Bamboo Gardening Guide: Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Clumping and Running Bamboos

Bamboo Gardening Guide: Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Clumping and Running Bamboos

Bamboos offer unmatched impact: grow 4 ft/day, screen a two-story house in years, transform a backyard into an exotic retreat. Some runners (e.g., golden bamboo Phyllostachys aurea) spread aggressively, but garden-worthy species continue to expand thanks to collectors and specialty nurseries introducing species from Africa, Asia, Australia, South America.

Diversity

• 1,000+ species (true grasses).
• Range: short groundcovers to 55-ft giants.
• Habits: tight upright clumps, graceful arching clusters, open groves.
• Leaves: short and fluttering at nodes, or >1 ft long.

Selection & Care

• Species for almost every Western climate (some hardy to -15°F/-20°F; others damaged at 20°F).
• Understory types prefer shade; others want full sun.
• Runners form groves; clumpers make focal points.
• Plant in rich, well-drained soil. Water deeply/regularly (when soil slightly damp 4 in down).
• High-nitrogen fertilizer 2–3×/year (spring–fall) or per package. Lawn fertilizer (16-6-8) works.
• Thin old stems for open groves; cut weakest new shoots each spring for largest stems.

Mail-Order Sources

• Bamboo Garden Nursery (503/647-2700)
• Bamboo Gardener (206/782-3490)
• Bamboo Giant (831/687-0100)
• Bamboo Headquarters (760/758-6181)
• Bamboo Sourcery (707/823-5866)