Planting bamboo plants
Apart from during heavy frost periods, bamboo plants in containers can be planted in all seasons. The best period is at the end of summer and in autumn, when the ground is warm enough to allow the underground system to develop rapidly (the rhizomes grow during that period). The plant settles down successfully in a short time.
Bamboo plants can perfectly well be planted in spring, although the ideal period is autumn. On the one hand, the ground at the end of winter is still cold and does not allow for rapid development of the roots. On the other hand, most spears are being developed at that period, so are liable to be damaged by transporting and handling. Another factor to take into account, essentially aesthetic, is that it is also the period at which bamboo leaves are being renewed, so the decorative effect is at its lowest.
Bamboo prefers light, moist, well drained earth. Marshy areas do not agree with it. Although it seems to prefer acid (pH < 7) or neutral (pH = 7) soil, most bamboo plants flourish in slightly alkaline soil and can tolerate limestone as long as it is not dominant. Distance between plants varies depending on the type and the desired effect (groups, hedge or border). Obviously, the nearer together they are planted, the quicker the desired effect will be obtained.
If creeping bamboo is to be planted near a group of shrubs, perennial plants or any other loose soil that are not to be colonised by rhizomes, you will have to : either dig a small 25- to 30 cm-deep ditch and clear it each autumn, being careful to cut off in the bottom of the trench any rhizomes that have tried to cross it, or install a buried screen as an obstacle at the limit of the bamboo plantation. The screen should be at an angle of approximately 15° off the vertical so that any rhizome meeting the obstacle will start growing upwards and will be easy to cut if it tries to get round the obstacle in the open air. But in most case you don’t have to worry, because as soon as it emerges into the open air it turns into culm and loses interest in the neighbouring land.
Bamboo plants can perfectly well be planted in spring, although the ideal period is autumn. On the one hand, the ground at the end of winter is still cold and does not allow for rapid development of the roots. On the other hand, most spears are being developed at that period, so are liable to be damaged by transporting and handling. Another factor to take into account, essentially aesthetic, is that it is also the period at which bamboo leaves are being renewed, so the decorative effect is at its lowest.
Bamboo prefers light, moist, well drained earth. Marshy areas do not agree with it. Although it seems to prefer acid (pH < 7) or neutral (pH = 7) soil, most bamboo plants flourish in slightly alkaline soil and can tolerate limestone as long as it is not dominant. Distance between plants varies depending on the type and the desired effect (groups, hedge or border). Obviously, the nearer together they are planted, the quicker the desired effect will be obtained.
If creeping bamboo is to be planted near a group of shrubs, perennial plants or any other loose soil that are not to be colonised by rhizomes, you will have to : either dig a small 25- to 30 cm-deep ditch and clear it each autumn, being careful to cut off in the bottom of the trench any rhizomes that have tried to cross it, or install a buried screen as an obstacle at the limit of the bamboo plantation. The screen should be at an angle of approximately 15° off the vertical so that any rhizome meeting the obstacle will start growing upwards and will be easy to cut if it tries to get round the obstacle in the open air. But in most case you don’t have to worry, because as soon as it emerges into the open air it turns into culm and loses interest in the neighbouring land.