Our planting guide has two main sections, Hedge/In Ground and Potted Plants. This page is designed to help you determine what is the best type of planting for your particular needs and give helpful information about preparing your site for Bamboo. Click on the photos to make them larger for more detail.

1) Hedge/In Ground Bamboo

Many of our customers want to create a Hedges or Privacy Screens with bamboo and want to know what is the best way to go about it. As well many people are concerned about bamboo’s reputation as an invasive plant that can “take over”  an area. Bamboo is the worlds fastest growing plant and certainly one of the most vigorous but this doesn’t mean that it will take over! One of the first things we do when when customers tell us they want a privacy hedge is to tell them about using Barrier Material to limit the growth area of the bamboo. We have used 26 inch plastic barrier material to keep our bamboo plants where we want them ever since we first planted. Provided you install it correctly we guarantee that it will work for you too!

Once you have decided how long you want your hedge to be make a measurement of the length and width of the area so you get the right amount of barrier material. We recommend planting bamboo in a trench that is  2-3 feet wide and 20-24 inches deep. Remember, if you make your trench wider your bamboo plants will grow taller and spread faster. As well, the “culms” or canes of the plant will be thicker in diameter. If your soil conditions are favorable you may not need to remove the soil from the trench and replace it with planting mix. You can simply dig out an area to place the barrier and make individual holes for each bamboo plant. Otherwise, you can remove the soil and prepare a trench like the one shown below. In most cases replacing the old soil will create the best possible conditions for your new plants to flourish in and give you the beautiful fuller plants in a shorter time span. If you need to remove your soil like in the photos below we recommend replacing it with a 3 way planting mix which you can find at commercial landscaping wholesalers.

After you have dug your trench carefully place your barrier material inside it so the sides of your trench don’t crumble and refill it! If you wish to have a nice straight and erect barrier use the installation technique seen in the photos below. You can see that the small strips of wood hammered into the ground work well to support the plastic and keep it from moving out of place. Typically we have anywhere from 2-6 inches of the barrier showing above ground. It is important to have this barrier above ground as

Once you have placed your barrier material Inside the trench you need to secure the the two ends with 2 26inch pieces of pressure treated 2×4” lumber so that it won’t rot in the ground. Place one piece on the exterior and one on the interior with the ends of the plastic barrier in between. Once in place secure the two pieces of wood with at least 4 galvanized screws. This is important because unsecured ends of root barrier can be breached by the vigorous roots of the bamboo roots.

Once you have secured your barrier you are ready to refill you trench. As mentioned previously replacing the soil in your trench with quality soil will really make a difference in the growth and vitality of your bamboo. When your trench is finished its time to plant your bamboo. Place the plants so that the base of the plant is just below the level of the soil. The distance between plants is really up to you. If you want immediate coverage you may want to place the bamboo plants two feet apart from each other. In general we recommend that people plant them about four feet apart and allow the plants grow into the empty space.

As you can see in the photos above we have placed fertilizer (alpaca manure) on the plants to make sure that they have all the nutrients needed to become a healthy hedge. Most any type of commercial plant fertilizers work fine. If you have grass clippings or leaves in your yard you can use them as well to create a nice mulch to put on the plants. In general we advise customers to fertilize about two times a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Make sure to water your plants regularly when you put them in the ground, transplanted plants need it. Every location is unique and figuring out how much water your plants need is something you will need to follow closely in the first year. In general your plants will need much less water in the winter here in the northwest. In the summer you can expect bamboo plants to need water around 2 times a week. If you follow this planting guide for hedges your bamboo plants we are sure they will be healthy and beautiful. If you have any further questions please feel free to call or E-Mail us!

2)Potted Plants

When placing your plants into a planter pot we recommend that you place something in the bottom of a pot to create propper drainage. Styrofoam packing peanuts or larger gravel will work fine. Place about four to six inches of the packing peanuts in the bottom and puit the soil and bamboo rootball on top of it. Make sure that you give your newly transplanted bamboo plenty of water upon repotting. Never use a pot that has no hole in the bottom as te roots will want the oxygen to be healthy and strong. Wating of planted pots can be tricky as they can dry out quickly in summer. you may need to water daily on hot days and even spray the leves of the plant to prevent them from yellowing with heat shock. In wither you expect to water much less, once or twice a week depending on the size of your planter. After some years bamboo in a pot may begin to suffocate because there is no longer any space for roots to grow. In this case you can take the rootball out of the pot and cut it in half and replant the two halves. Then you have two bamboo plants!

3) Care Info

1. Hedges/In the ground plantings

Most bamboo planted in the ground likes to have partial  sunlight and good soil. The richer the soil and more water it receives the better the plant will grow. Basically the better the conditions you give your plants the more new shoots will form and the shoots will be thicker and taller too! We usually suggest installing root barrier when planting bamboo in the ground as it likes to run and can grow quite quickly once established. To prevent bamboo from spreading out of desired areas we offer a 40mm plastic barrier to surround the roots to prevent them from running underground (available for $2.00 per lineal foot).  The barrier is placed on edge in a trench at least 20” deep, then you trim off any extra ( scissors are OK) above grou

nd leaving approximately 2” minimum above grade. In mild weather you can water your plants once or twice a week. In summer more water is better and daily watering may be necessary when very hot (85 degrees and higher). If you can see the leaves curling inward (i.e. not flat) and have dry or dead foliage at the tips or edges of the leaves they probably need more water. If your bamboo gets badly heat stressed you may need to cut 20 to 30% off the tops to reduce the demand on the roots, this is good for the plant and stimulates more root growth which will give you more new shoots etc. in the spring. Do not be afraid if you see more leaves than normal falling off in the spring as bamboo renews its foliage during these months. Mulching the soil with leaves, grass clippings, or our personal favorite, wood chips can really help keep your plants moist and healthy all year round.  Grass clippings are an excellent fertilizer and mulch, manure is great too. Commercial fertilizers are also OK.

2. Potted Bamboo

Most types of bamboo like partial sunlight and plenty of water. When you transplant, water heavily to be sure to fill in any air spaces completely around the roots (Vitamin “B” root food is great). If your site is full sun or very hot, keep the plant in a shady spot for the first week or two and keep an eye on it to see how well it likes the transition. If it exhibits any wilting or curling of the leaves, spray water on the leaves two or three times during the hottest part of the day. In mild weather you can water your plants once or twice a week. In the hottest summer months you may need to water your potted bamboo every day or two to prevent  heat stress. If the stress is wilting more than 20% of the leaves you may need to cut 20 to 30% off the top of the plant. It helps a lot to have a tray under the pot that holds some water to allow you to see when the soil is not absorbing more; this reservoir gives the plant some reserve too.  Bamboo roots like it moist but be sure to have drain holes in the pot; we recommend putting packing popcorn or large pebbles in the bottom of the pot to promote drainage .  Supply the plant with as much nutrient rich soil as possible. Grass compost is a great source of nutrients for bamboo as it holds nitrogen and silica. Don’t be afraid to let a layer of bamboo leaves build up around the base of the plant, it helps the plant retain moisture and is healthy for the plant. Do not worry if there are more leaves falling in spring as bamboo renews its foliage during these months. During the coldest part of winter protect your plants from wind when below freezing so the leaves won’t get leaf burn, if below zero I recommend protecting the roots by covering the pot in mulch or a tarp.