|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GROWING BAMBOO
Bamboo Growth
Bamboos are capable of phenomenal growth. On hot days, they say, you can “hear the corn grow”in the Midwest. Just so, I’ve been told of warm spring days in China when the Moso sprout, leaf, and reach toward the heavens with such vigor, it is audible to my customer’s ears. While withholding judgment on both claims, I will say I have seen bamboo grow to twenty feet in a northern Massachusetts' month.
The bamboo stores food in its rhizomes (horizontal underground stems) and culms (canes). Your newly-planted bamboo will take a few years to become well-established and build these stores. Expect a few new culms the spring after the bamboos are planted, and probably double that number the following spring. After about three years, you will see the growth for which bamboos are known. In about three years a Phyllostachys will fill an area of 5' by 5'. But don't expect mature height at that time.Growing Bamboo in the Landscape
To plant bamboo outdoors, dig a hole as deep as the container and twice as wide. Add a mix of half compost and half soil to the hole, leaving space for the plant. Don’t add fertilizer or manure. Place the plant in the hole roughly matching the soil level with the level of the material around the plant. New shoots are delicate—be careful. Water thoroughly.For the first year, bamboo should not be permitted to dry out. If the leaves roll up, forming tubes, it is much too dry. Fertilize in March, June and September with high nitrogen fertilizer. Turf fertilizer, or the organic equivalent, works well.
How Many Plants Do I Need?
Running bamboos should be planted on 8-10 foot centers - clumping, bamboos which of course fill in more slowly, should be more closely spaced. Remember that it is easier to arrange odd rather than even numbers of plants.
When Should I Plant?
Soil (not air) temperatures above 40°F are necessary for root growth. It gains you little to plant too early in the spring. Here in New England we can plant from late April to late October. All the books will tell you to plant only in the spring. We at Burts are fortunate that our plants can't read. They have been told that 4-6 weeks of that magical 40 °F soil temperature is sufficient time for bamboos to establish before winter.
Growing Bamboo in Containers
Choose a mix with good drainage and a pot that is at least as wide as it is tall.If you are growing the bamboos interior plant,Most bamboos will do well in shallow containers, eighteen to twenty-four inches deep.
If you are planting bamboo on a roof or high-rise patio, be aware of the challenges such a site presents. Wind and temperature extremes must be addressed if you expect survival and vigorous growth. Plan on a planter at least two feet wide, wider in windy locations, particularly for taller bamboos. The planter should be lined with solid (styrofoam) insulation. Two inch thickness is about right and will minimize rapid freeze-thaw cycles in the winter and excessive heating in the summer.
While the bamboo is actively growing, feed monthly with a full-strength high nitrogen fertilizer. We use a 17-6-12 slow-release fertilizer, but a soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Grow or Rapid-Grow is fine. In the winter, or when growth has slowed, cut back on feeding to half strength. for a fuller discussion see FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, below.
Bamboo Control
Bamboo control is not difficult. Control is not needed for clumping bamboos. Running bamboos can be controlled in several ways.
- Placement near water: Running bamboos will not grow into a pond or stream.
- Mowing: A broad (fifteen to twenty feet) mowing strip around a planting, especially in the spring, when the new growth is tender.You will have to mow each year, but the method works.
- Barriers: A barrier thirty inches deep (deeper in warmer climates) of a material that will not decompose prevents spread.
- An effective variant of this method is to dig a foot-deep ditch around the planting, fill it with mulch, and run a stick through it in the spring and fall to find and remove any rhizomes that might have grown through. This method has become popular with several commercial growers.
FR