Tips for Planning a Bamboo Garden in Your Landscape

Bamboo as an ornamental grass is becoming a very popular plant material for landscaping, being used in many different contexts and locales. It is especially popular for oriental or Japanese theme gardens. Landscaping with bamboo adds an exotic flair to your yard and being perennial and evergreen it is a wonderful element.

Bamboo is versatile as well, with varieties ranging from dwarf ground covers to tall treelike plants that are excellent privacy walls. But there are a few things you need to know about the planning, care and maintenance of a bamboo garden to avoid headaches down the road.

Research Before Planting

Because bamboo is an exotic (nonnative) plant by American standards, getting information on properly growing it can be a big help. The American Bamboo Society is one of the best sources of information on properly landscaping a bamboo garden. The purpose of the ABS is to promote the planting and care of bamboo species, so it has an interest in providing helpful information. The Society should be able to provide useful information about caring for bamboo through one of the members or by referring you to someone local for assistance.

Choosing an Appropriate Bamboo Species

Your local nursery is the best place to find bamboo that will grow well in your area. If there are no nurseries locally which carry bamboo try to find a supplier as close to home as possible and let them know your goals for your garden. Be certain to describe the growing conditions including temperature ranges of your area. Bamboo of different types can grow in a wide variety of conditions but generally don't thrive in colder winters. They prefer loamy soil so if you have claylike soil you should add some mulch to lighten it.

Controlling Bamboo

The wonderful thing about adding a bamboo garden to your landscape is that bamboo can grow rapidly and spread with very little care. This is also the downside of bamboo. If you don't keep it under control, it can spread into area where you or your neighbors don't want it. When that happens it can be difficult to remove.

The best option for controlling the spread your bamboo is to construct a deep root barrier about 3 feet deep around the perimeter of your bamboo garden. If you plan ahead you can be rewarded with a low maintenance flourishing bamboo garden.