Bamboo Care and FAQs

Scroll down to learn about the following:

How do I plant my bamboo?

When is the best time to plant bamboo?

Will bamboo grow better in sun or shade?

What is the fastest growing bamboo?

How far apart should I plant my bamboos?

What type of maintenance does bamboo need?

Do I need a barrier to control my bamboo?

How do I plant my bamboo?

Water, good soil and regular fertilizing are the key ingredients to achieving fast-growing, healthy plants.

Dig a hole about twice as big around and twice as deep as the container your plant came in.  Partially fill the hole in with compost, cow manure or peat.  You can add a time-release fertilizer to the soil mixture at this time also.  Bamboos like lots of nitrogen, so if you are adding a commercial fertilizer, look for one with a high first number.  The first number indicates the amount of nitrogen in the mixture.  Make sure you get a fertilizer that does not contain herbicides.  Do not use any fertilizer labeled "Weed 'N Feed."  You can fertilize bamboos once a month for the fastest growth or use a time-release fertilizer several times a year.  If the leaves start to look yellowish apply some Ironite brand fertilizer and the extra iron should help green them up quickly.

Once the hole is dug and the soil augmented, take the bamboo out of the pot and put it in the hole adding dirt until the plant is sitting at the same level it was in the container.  You don't need to break up the bamboo, the roots are very difficult to separate and doing so could hurt rather than help the plant.  Sometimes the bamboo roots fill up the pot so completely you may need to cut the container off in order to get the plant out.

Once you place the bamboo in the hole, stamp down the dirt around the plant until the ground is nice and solid.  At this point, if you choose, you can mulch your new plant with a light covering of grass clipping, leaves or commercial bags of mulch.  Mulches help the bamboo retain moisture.  Try not to place the mulch too thickly right next to the existing bamboo canes and be careful if your new plant has any young shoots.  Young canes are very delicate and can break easily.

It is important to give the new plants plenty of water for at least a month after planting.  Bamboo, especially newly planted bamboo, does best if it is kept moist. It doesn't want to sit in standing water, but does like a frequent drenching.  A continually flowing drip hose works very well but you can use any type of irrigation. You can tell if your bamboos are not getting enough moisture if their leaves start to curl up.  If that happens turn on the tap, give the plants a good long soak and, in the future, increase the amount of time you irrigate your plants. In the summer rains you will not need to water as much, but be sure to keep them well irrigated in the dry winter season as this is when the root system is developing that will send up the new shoots in the spring and summer.

If you are not going to plant your new plants right away, make sure you keep them in a shady place where they will get plenty of water until you are ready to put them in the ground.

If a hard freeze below 30 degrees is predicted in the winter it is good to add a thick layer of mulch around the plants or to wrap small plants of the more cold sensitive types with a frost blanket especially the first winter.

When is the best time to plant bamboo?

Bamboo can be planted at any time of the year.  Since new shoots begin to appear during the hot summer months, planting in the springtime can be a particularly gratifying time to plant.  Mid-summer is also good because there is usually plenty of rain then and newly planted bamboo likes frequent watering.  Those people who purchase bamboo in the cooler months have an advantage because their plants will have a longer time to develop strong roots.  A good solid root system is what enables bamboo to send out bigger, taller canes the following summer. 

Will bamboo grow better in sun or shade?

Most bamboos can handle either sun or shade equally well.  Sunlight is not nearly as important a factor as water and soil quality in determining bamboo placement.  In shady areas, bamboos have a tendency to grow taller because they have to stretch upward for light.  The canes also stay greener, on green-caned varieties.  In sunny locations, the canes on young green-caned bamboos are often bleached out by sunlight and look less green than they will in mature specimens.  As bamboos age they self-shade, providing their own protection from the sun's harsh light.  There are only a few varieties, including all the black bamboos, that really prefer a shady location but even they will continue to grow if planted in direct light, just not as quickly.

What is the fastest growing bamboo?

There's an old Chinese saying:  "First bamboo sleeps, then it creeps, then it leaps."  All bamboos are fast-growing plants.  In fact, they are among the fastest growing plants in the world.  In the period of just a few months - always during the warm days of late spring and summer - all bamboos send up new shoots that will grow from inch-high spears into canes that tower (depending on the variety and maturity of the bamboo) up to 70' above the ground.   Most of the year, bamboo grows silently underground.  The root system - an essential element for fast growth - is developing during the cool weather months.  The larger and more developed the root ball when bamboo is purchased - for instance, buying 7- or 15-gallon pots instead of 1- or 3-gallon containers - the quicker you will see more tall canes with bigger diameter.  When the weather warms, new shoots emerge.  Depending on the variety, the shoots can be as thin as a pencil or as thick as your arm.  Whatever diameter the cane is when it comes through the ground, that's the diameter it will be its entire life.  Unlike tree trunks, bamboo canes never increase girth as they age.  Each year's new shoots are usually larger than those of previous years but old canes don't grow wider as time goes by.

The most prolific clumping bamboo we have is Seabreeze.  It shoots early in the season and each year sends up more new canes than any other clumping variety.   The fastest growing running bamboo is Green Hedge (fastuosa).  Plant one cane of this prolific runner and in about three years, you will have a dense grove of upright, leafy canes.  If you are planning to hide an unattractive chain link or wire fence with a living hedge using one of the running or clumping hedge bamboos, by the time the fence is ready to be replaced it will be unnecessary to do so.  The impenetrable bamboo will have completely concealed the fence.  The bamboo that produces the largest (3" to 4" diameter) canes the fastest is Giant Timber (oldhamii) clumping bamboo.

How far apart should I plant my bamboos?

Although it depends somewhat on the variety, as a general rule, plant bamboos about 10' apart.  For faster blockage or to create a quicker hedge, a spacing of 4' to 6' is most effective.  Consider the bamboo's shape when planting.  Most runners can be planted closer together than clumping varieties because they tend to have a more upright growth pattern.  Among the clumping varieties, the hedge types have canes that lean out at an angle forming a "bowl" shape and therefore will touch and create a screen quickly even planted 10' or more apart.  Other clumpers, especially the larger-caned timber bamboos, grow more erect and may need to be planted closer together if the purpose is to create a screening effect.  Also, some bamboos have leaves and branches clear to the ground and the canes grow close together. Others have less lower branching and more widely spaced canes to give the appearance of a more open grove. 

What type of maintenance does bamboo need?

In addition to regular watering, it will help your bamboo grow faster if you fertilize it regularly and apply a light mulch around the plant base.  Bamboo is just a giant grass and it likes any fertilizer with a high nitrogen number.  If you are going organic, periodically apply compost or aged manure around the canes.  Bamboos will respond well to a mulch of grass clippings or leaves so, if you rake your lawn, save the clippings and leaves you gather and place them around the bamboo.  If you choose to apply a chemical fertilizer, find one with a higher first number (indicating the nitrogen level) and use as directed.  Bamboos can be fertilized monthly.  If you notice a yellowing of the leaves or canes (an indication of low iron levels), sprinkle some Ironite around the base of the plant.  Other maintenance includes trimming out older canes to provide more room for new shoots.  This is not necessary but, if done, provides a more open look to your grove and allows more space for larger canes to grow.   Normally bamboos are not prone to insect or disease problems.   If your bamboo gets as big as you want it to be you can stop fertilizing and watering it as much to slow down future growth. 

Do I need a barrier to control my bamboo?

Clumping bamboos never need to be controlled by barriers but, sometimes, running bamboos do.  If you are planting a running bamboo in an area where you will be unable to mow a 20' to 30' swath around the bamboo then it might be important to have a barrier in place.  Our experience over the past 15 years growing many different kinds of running bamboos is that mowing alone successfully contains most of the running varieties we sell.   If you cannot keep a wide area around the bamboo mowed or if you have gardens nearby, runners will spread into those spaces.  Remember that you only have to control their spread during the late spring and hot summer months when new shoots emerge.  Also, young shoots are very delicate.  If you do not want to keep a shoot that has popped out of the ground you can simply kick it over or cut it with clippers.  Even larger, more mature shoots are easy to weedwack or cut off with snippers.  Regular mowing will keep most running bamboos in place but a barrier made out of high-density plastic doesn't hurt.  Bamboo roots are fairly shallow, growing only about 2' into the ground, so any barrier only needs to be 2' to 3' deep. 

What kind of running bamboo will grow in NY?

Running bamboos like cold climates.  They will grow taller and have larger diameter canes if grown in cold climates instead of warm ones.  Although this stand of Vivax running bamboo is covered in icicles during the winter of 2009, it wasn't damaged at all. 

A visitor to our website from NY wrote to ask:

Hi. Do you have bamboos that will withstand NY winters? How many plants do you recommend to start? Thank you.

My response:
All of our running bamboos will grow in your area.  Look at the pictures and descriptions on our running bamboo page to find the ones you like best.  It is not a problem to plant several types together and let them run into each other.

How many you begin with depends on how quickly you want to form a hedge. We began most of our long hedgerows of running bamboo with one plant but we were willing to wait several years for them to expand sufficiently to form a hedge.  

This double hedge of our Green Hedge Running bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa viridis) was initially established on only one side of the path.  We started with 3-gal size plants spaced 10 feet apart.  It took several years, but eventually the space between the plants filled in and not too long after, shoots began traveling across the path.  Today we have a lovely hedge on both sides of a path that we keep clear by mowing.

Running bamboos are easy to divide once the initial plant starts sending out shoots.  Once the shoots have grown up and leafed out they can be dug up and relocated into the hedge line.  I'd suggest starting with 4-6 plants spaced 5' apart to form a hedge a bit quicker. 

These connected young shoots of Red Running Bamboo (Semiarudinaria fastuosa) are ready to be divided and transplanted.

We ship 3-gal plants, 2 plants per 48" x 12" x 12" box.  In order to provide you with an accurate quote, we need to how many plants and which varieties you wish to order, your address w/zip code, phone # and whether the parcel will be delivered to a home or business location (it is slightly less expensive to ship to commercial locations).  Once we have that information we can send you a quote including shipping.  If you decide to go ahead with the order we accept payment by credit card. When the bamboo is shipped we email you a tracking number. 

Relocating a large clump of Yin-Yang bamboo

Timmy and Ralph relocate a two-year-old Yin-Yang bamboo

My office window faces a clay wall that we carved out of a hillside years ago in order to build our house.  The wall is not particularly attractive and to hide it we have planted bamboos.  A couple days ago we transplanted a two-year-old clump of Bambusa emeiensis viridiflavus or Yin-Yang to a spot directly across from my office window.

Timmy lowers the bamboo into a prepared hole filled with a good base of our custom soil mix, Bamboo Booster.  When planting bamboo, it is important to replace nutrient poor soil with a rich, light soil mixture and to water the transplanted bamboo during daylight hours for as long as possible.

 
Now I can look out at Yin-Yang, which is currently my favorite bamboo.  It's a large-caned bamboo with an unusual striping pattern.  Although the culms (canes) are green, alternating sides of each culm are striped with a series of vertical yellow lines.  The culm sections are also banded by a fairly broad horizontal white line that is particularly attractive and distinctive.

Yellow stripes and a broad white band add to Yin-Yang's allure

Yin-Yang also has pretty leaves that grow differently than many other clumpers.  It has a very Asian feel to it that makes me think of a zen garden or meditative space.  Simply looking at this special bamboo is soothing.  That's especially helpful when I'm stressing out over particularly full workload or impending deadlines.

How to care for established bamboo plants

A customer from Riverview, Florida who purchased several Green Hedge clumping bamboos (Bambusa multiplex 'Silverstripe') emailed to say:

About 4 years ago I bought some bamboo from your lovely property. We love it and it did everything you said it would. It blocked a two story house that had been built behind us and provided a beautiful screen for our viewing pleasure. My question has to do with keeping the bamboo as a smaller clump to fit the area it is in. When new stalks come up do I dig it up or just cut it at ground level? Can I thin it a little from the middle by cutting stalks shorter or will they get new growth on the cut stalk like some plants do? And lastly, since this is such a prolific grower is it really necessary to feed the bamboo or does it need it to keep a green color? And what do you think is the best food for it?

By the way, this bamboo went through those horrible freezes we have had for the last two winters with flying colors. I couldn't be happier. When the rest of my plants and bushes were devastated the bamboo was our shining star.

A 6-year-old clump of Green Hedge bamboo

My response:
The best way to maintain a clumping bamboo once it has reached the size you want is to knock over new shoots when they appear around the perimeter of the clump.  Kicking or knocking over the young shoots stops that shoot from growing.  During the summer above-ground growing season, other new shoots may still appear but when they do, they can be knocked over as well. 

Another way to control the size of a clump is to cut back on watering and fertilizing once the circle of bamboo has gotten as big as you want it to be.  A mature clump of bamboo does well even without extra water and fertilizer. 

New shoots cannot be dug up and transplanted.  First of all, digging through a mature clump of bamboo is extremely difficult since the root system is so dense.  If you do manage to cut through with a reciprocal saw, ax or specially designed shovel, you would only want to cut out mature, fully leafed canes.  New shoots would have to grow up and leaf out before they can be divided off.

Any time a bamboo culm/cane is topped, it will not grow any taller.  It will, however, get leafier below where it has been cut.  Cutting out canes from the center of a clump provides a more open appearance.  Although new shoots sometimes come up in the middle, their tendency is to appear around the perimeter.

The fertilizer we like best is a 6-month time-release formula (18-6-8) high in nitrogen, which is what bamboos need for optimal growth.  We can send you a 1#, 3# or 6# package of fertilizer if you are interested.

Bamboo Q & A

A customer from the Orlando area who recently purchased and installed several Blue Timber (Bambusa chungii) clumping bamboos wrote with a few questions:

Hi Sherry,  How are you?  I hope this finds you doing well.  I am writing to ask some specific questions about our Bambusa chungii that arose after reading your wonderful blog. I find myself going back to your blog almost daily to look up something or read what you’ve written about a particular topic. 

OK.  First off, irrigation.  As you may recall, we purchased 5 Bambusa chungii from you. They are now integrated into our driveway landscape, placed about 10’ apart.  I have redone the irrigation system for this area, using a drip line with two dedicated lines for each plant (well, one has a line and a nearby spray head).  I have placed two of these micro-bubbler irrigation heads about an inch from the vertical culm of each bamboo: http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Irrigation-67110-Micro-Bubbler-Stake/dp/B002R9O4OK.  This way when I turn on the sprinkler system, each plant gets a dedicated shower with a specific radius range of about a foot from the base of the vertical culm.  I have also added mulch around each plant.  We have a lot of oak trees here, so we have leaves galore.

OK, on your blog I read a comment from someone asking about newly planted bamboos and this person mentioned watering each bamboo for 2 hours.  Wow, that seems like a lot.  I turn on the bamboo zone for 10-12 minutes twice a day, then twice a week in addition that zone is part of our overall watering schedule (in Winter Park you can water two days a week) and the bamboo zone goes on for 25 minutes.  All the bambusa chungii now have leaves sprouting from the joints of each culm.  On all but one plant the leaves have no yellow; one of the tallest bamboos has some yellow leaves.  There are no curling leaves (indicating lack of water).  Yet, still I wonder … am I under-watering?  Do they need more than this?  Please advise.

Next, fertilizing.  As you may recall, we got both soil and Dynamite from you which were put into the planting as you direct in your planting instructions sheet.  Some bamboos have been in the ground for 3 weeks now, some about a week.  So soon (the one-month mark) I was going to add fertilizer.  My local hardware store has been having trouble getting Ironite http://www.ironite.com/.  They told me that Ironite has re-formulated the mix and it is now hard to get.  Not sure when they will have the Ironite.  So … I can use something like this:  http://www.seedland.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Seedland&Product_Code=FERT-423403-15&Category_Code=FERT-453284.

Should I use both, assuming that Ironite becomes available soon?  Can I start fertilizing after the 4-week mark?

Thanks again for all your good information.  It’s fun to check in with Beautiful Bamboo by listening to other people’s questions and thoughts.  Thanks too for your excellent comments on Metalifestream. 

My response:

Hi Barry - I'm glad you are finding my blog helpful.  Have you used the "Search this Blog" feature yet?  If not, you might find that useful when seeking out information on specific topics.  Concerning your questions, let's start with irrigation.  From your description of the plants' new leaves, it sounds like you are giving them adequate water.  Bamboos like water and it is difficult to give them too much but the amount you are doing seems perfectly fine for plants in a shady, well-mulched location like you've given them.  Especially during this year's rather moist springtime.

Concerning the fertilizer, you already applied sufficient fertilizer to last 6 months when you planted the bamboo and used Dynamite, a 6-mo. time release fertilizer that we sell at the nursery.  The fertilizer you linked to would be a good choice for the future but not necessary for immediate use.  If you use the one you linked to in the future, you can apply it every month since it is not a time release formula but be sure to follow the application directions since regular non-time release formulas do have the potential to "burn" plants if applied incorrectly.  What you can always do however, is apply organic material around the existing bamboos.  Just like with water, bamboos thrive when given an abundance of organic material such as compost, manure, grass clippings, leaves, etc.  So right now, don't apply additional chemical fertilizers but do pile on the organic matter.

Ironite is usually available at Lowes, although I haven't checked recently.  Newly planted bamboos usually don't require Ironite applications.  Some browning of the leaves is normal, especially following transplanting, and as long as new leaves are forming, don't worry about others leaves that fall off.  Focus instead on all the new growth that's just beginning to happen now and will continue to happen through November.

How do I divide off a section of a clumping bamboo?

A customer writes:
Hi, Sherry. I've been missing your column in the "Slantinel". They've been making so many changes in the last few months. Did you ever get a book published?

I have a question. I've got to move some of my bamboo; I made the mistake of putting some of it too close to other plants, and now I've got to make some room. I can see from your FAQ that now seems to be an okay time to do it, but what do I do, just dig it up and replant it? I was thinking of moving only half a clump to a new spot. Can I just slice down the middle, dig out what I want to transplant, and replant, or do I have to cut it back?

Thanks for any info you and Ralph can give me. All the bamboo I got from you is doing absolutely fantastic, especially with all this rain, and the seabreeze my daughter, Emily, put in has almost completely obscured the house next door.

Regards,
Dave


My response:
Hi Dave - My column only runs in the Lake County edition of the Orlando Sentinel now but you can read it online on my SIMPLY LIVING blog where I post new columns each Monday (you can sign up to be a FOLLOWER and receive automatic updates). I haven't gotten my book published yet but it is in the works.

You can certainly divide off a section of your existing clump but be forewarned: It ain't easy! Also, if you don't have to do it right now, it would be a little better if you waited until all the new shoots stopped growing and leafing out because any new shoots that haven't leafed out may not survive transplanting. Dividing during the late winter or early spring (before the new shoots emerge) is the ideal time to make divisions. Whenever you do it, it helps to use a sawsall to cut through the roots and to top the plants so only about a third of the top growth is left on the part you want to divide off. If you wet the ground down thoroughly before digging, it will make your job less difficult. After the section is divided off, make sure it is potted up and set in a shady place where it gets frequent watering to recuperate fully before setting back out into the ground.

How much room does clumping bamboo need?

A customer recently wrote:

We purchased some bamboo from you last year. We have a quick question about
GIANT TIMBER BAMBOO (Bambusa oldhamii). How big can we expect the diameter of the clump to get. Just want to make sure we have it in a large enough area. The Blue, Black and the Asian Lemon bamboos are all doing well! Will send pictures soon!

My response:

Like all clumping bamboos, Giant Timber will always continue to send up new shoots around the outer edges of the existing plant. That means as the years go by, the circle of bamboo will get bigger and bigger. When you think it's large enough, vigilantly chop off or knock over the new shoots when they emerge in the late spring/summer. Once a new shoot is broken like that, it will stop growing.

If you're afraid the spot where you've placed the Giant Timber will fill up too fast, moving it would be a good idea. But, if you can, wait until December or January to do transplant. By then, all of this year's new shoots have completely grown up and leafed out. Moving a bamboo when it still has young canes often prevents the canes from continuing to develop and results in a loss of potential growth for those particular canes. Also, to make it easier to dig up the bamboo, the night before you plan to move it, thoroughly soak the ground around the bamboo. Wet ground is much easier to dig through.