Avoid invasive running bamboos at all costs
Oriental plants are in vogue – if you don’t know what you’re buying, some can ruin tiny plots. Here’s my guide to bamboo for smaller gardens.
I was a gardening expert for Primrose, the online retailer, answering customers’ horticultural queries. The one plant that people have the most questions about is bamboo. The fashion for this Far Eastern giant seems to have beaten the Leylandii madness of the 1970s, where novice gardeners were sold ‘dwarf rockery conifers’ – in reality, very young and eventually very big trees.
Most bamboo varieties that you see, especially in DIY centres, end up massive. Phyllostachys aurea and P. nigra (golden/fishpole and black bamboo) are the most common offenders. It’s easy to see why people want them – the golden and black culms (canes) are lovely and look good in contemporary gardens.
Spreading or running bamboo – avoid!
Don’t be swayed by running bamboos and buy a plant just because there are no others in stock. Most running varieties range from 4-8 metres tall or more and don’t stay put – they spread by long, invasive rhizomes.
Even if you use expensive bamboo barrier fabrics, they have been known to pop up through patios and conservatories. The RHS has a useful page on containing spreading bamboos – https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=210.
Unless you have a huge garden that can handle the height and a Chinese-style grove, avoid at all costs. Even if you plant them in solid pots, they can – and will – burst through. They are also likely to be short of water in containers and look very ragged.
Other running bamboos
- Arundinaria
- Bashania
- Chimonobambusa
- Clavinodum
- Hibanobambusa
- Indocalamus
- Phyllostachys
- Pleioblastus
- Pseudosasa
- Sasa
- Sasaella
- Sasamorpha
- Semiarundinaria
- Sinobambusa
- Yushania.
Clumping varieties – safe
Still want bamboo? The best bamboo for smaller gardens are the clumping varieties. Although the classic cane effect isn’t so pronounced, they’re lovely plants. They still have rhizomes, but they are short and stay close to the main plant.
I grow Fargesias, which have graceful, delicate culms and move beautifully in the breeze. Fargesias are naturally clump-forming and generally well-behaved. To be on the safe side, mine are growing in half-barrel-sized pots.
Top 3 Fargesia varieties
Fargesia Jiuzhaigou 1
(Also called the red bamboo, Jiu and Red Panda. Numbers 1-4 after denote slightly different strains): Discovered in a park in Sichuan Province. The young green culms turn red/purple, then orange-brown, giving a multicoloured effect. Grows up to 3m high with a 2m spread, less in pots.
It will stand some shade but needs regular watering. Bear this in mind if you’re planting it in a pot. Mine is next to a water barrel so I don’t forget. It can be pruned, but this ruins the fountain-like shape. Avoid cold, drying winds, especially at the coast, as it is susceptible to windburn. Hardy to -25ºC. Mine seems happy under the partial shade of a whitebeam tree but gets almost full sun in winter.
Fargesia robusta Pingwu
If you’re after a taller bamboo for smaller gardens, Pingwu reaches 4-5m after five years but only has a spread of 1.5-2m. It is much less when planted in a large container.
New shoots break early in spring. Culms start off yellow and red, and sheaths fade to almost white, which creates a checkerboard look. It keeps its foliage well even during harsh winters – it is hardy to -17ºC. Pingwu is best shielded from the afternoon sun. My plant faces east, which seems to suit it well. Unlike Jiuzhaigou, it doesn’t suffer badly from windburn.
Fargesia spathacea Purple Dragon
(Also known as Purple Mountains: I don’t have this one, but it comes highly recommended. Found in Hubei Province, China, it grows to approx 3m high, with a width of 1.5m. It has larger leaves than most on reddish-green shoots, later turning red-purple. It is frost-hardy and grows best in a semi-shady to sunny location.
Other clump-forming bamboos
- Bambusa
- Chusquea
- Dendrocalamus
- Drepanostachyum
- Himalayacalamus
- Schizostachyum
- Shibataea
- Thamnocalamus.
