Bamboo pruning

Hi, can someone tell me the best time to prune the bamboo and which stems to remove, I have heard the thinnest stems are the oldest and to remove those is this true,

Sorry if this is in the wrong Topic Thread.

Thanks

 

Hi Duffy

When pruning I always ask myself why ?? do I want to remove ,
branch growing out of shape ? , diseased wood ?, make it flower better and fruit ?etc.............

So Iam asking you the same question why ?, as cutting anything off without knowing what you are doing may damage the plant .

So how old is the bamboo growing in pot or the garden borders ? what is the variety .



Spruce

 

Hi,

One of them is Borinda papyrifera CS1046, and the other one is Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis'

Reason the centre stems more visible and to make it tidier and encourage thicker stems in the middle if possible both plants have been in for about 1yr both are in the ground next to each other plot size approx 400x 1300mm, and have a membrane around them to stop them spreading.

 

If they have only been planted for a year I would not do any pruning or thinning of canes just yet. Leave them another year to establish.

After that with Bamboo, it really depends on the look you want. I tend to remove s number of the older thinner canes each year, plus any that are bunched up. On some clumps i strip off the lower branches/leaves from the canes, on others i leave them. Depends on the look you want.

You can see a clump in my garden in the pics here (Alternative Eden: The Start of Summer! )

As for the weed membrane, it will not stop a bamboo from spreading, or do you mean a specialist bamboo barrier?

To get the thicker stems then you need to be watering and feeding like mad the year before, so whatever you do to feed and water now should impact what the plants do next year.

 

Tropical Gaz ... you have a very nice garden! ...

what is the name of the green shrub on the left of the building (the darker green one with the finer foilage - (directly to the left of the large clay pot) as shown on the 1st photo of your link)?

 

I think you are refering to a Trachycarpus fortunei, the palm with dark green leaves, if thats not the plant you meant then let me know or save the pic and draw an arrow on the one you want.

If it is the palm, this is probably the best suited palm for the uk, the only really reliable one and is much better suited than plants like cordyline.

Gaz