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Landscaping With Bamboo: Know The Facts
Southern gardening presents its own unique challenges, along with some very real advantages. One of the advantages is that the mild semitropical climate of states such as Louisiana offers gardeners a greater range of possibilities. If you are a southern gardener considering planting bamboo, here are some quick facts.
-- Bamboo has sometimes been slapped with an unfair label in the past: uncontrollable. But like any prolific plants, they can be contained and become a beautiful addition to any landscape when the gardener seeks advice from a bamboo professional. There are two basic types: running and clumping. Both are classified as grasses and when grown in the right climate they are easy to keep healthy. Depending on the type you choose, plants can range in size from mere inches to over 100' tall!
-- Tall bamboo makes an outstanding privacy "hedge" because of its dense foliage. Gardeners have also used it to cover large areas and create their own private forest. The stalk of the bamboo is what is most decorative, and when stripped of its foliage the colors really stand out. Some are golden colored, others are striped, some are variegated and yet others are even black.
-- Clumping Bamboo
This type of bamboo is perfect for gardeners who want a lower-maintenance plant that will not grow as quickly. It will become fuller over time, like all perennials, but their root structures will not allow it to grow more than a few inches a year. These grow to a variety of heights and make excellent hedges and ornamental screens.
-- Running Bamboo
If you have room to spare and want to create a real bamboo forest, this type might be just right for you. This type of bamboo spreads through underground rhizomes that are able to cover large distances quickly. However, if you don't want to have a forest, the rhizomes run very shallow and installing underground buried edging will prevent its spread. Some types, like the "Moso" variety, can soar to 75' high and will boast 7 inch diameter culms. Thanks to a Moso grove's extensive overhead leaf canopy, temperatures within such a forest can be 15 degrees cooler than in the rest of the garden: a feature that is always attractive to southern gardeners!
--Ornamental Bamboo
Many of the most colorful types of ornamental bamboo are the ones that feature unusual coloration. When these are kept in contained areas, they become stunning focal points in any landscaping scheme and come in a large variety of different heights.
If you are interested in planting bamboo, it is always best to consult with a nursery that specializes in this fascinating and unusual plant. Trained botanical professionals will be able to advise you best on what type to choose and how to grow it as well as contain it.
About the Author If you are a Louisiana resident who wants more information about growing bamboo, visit with the professionals and see the selection at the best Bamboo Nursery in the Pelican State: Bamboo Gardens of Louisiana (http://www.bamboogardensla.com). Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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