FAO madflower... Bamboo

Ok, I have put together some quick information and some good links to read up...

To grow bamboos properly you need good quality soil enriched with plenty of organic matter. If you want to grow them in pots I use a JI3, compost, peat, grit, wood chip, chicken pellet mix. They like to be fed regularly and watered regularly, but at the same time they like well drained soil. Bamboo leaves can be both dried and scorched by wind. Emerging canes stay the same girth regardless of how tall they are or how old they get. Cutting back the weedy canes promotes the production of thicker canes. I trim my bamboo of shoots up to 2 ft up the cane to show off the colour of the canes. Bamboos can be killed by drought although the phyllostachys group are considered fairly drought resistant. Bamboos can be messy plants in so much as they shed the husks which surround them as the culms grow and the leaves which ultimatlely open.

These are some of the bamboos I grow which are invasive but easily controlled by division and strategic planting between natural and Bananaman inspired barriers. Follow the link to the post about bamboos I did in May.

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001819;p=1#000000

A fantastic book on bamboo is Hardy Bamboos: Taming the Dragon (Hardcover) by Paul Whittaker

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/088192685X/202-6786564-8639857?v=glance&n=266239

This book taught me plenty.

If I can help you further don't hesitate to ask.

Some of my favourite bamboo sites for information.. I have never ordered plants through them...

http://www.junglegiants.co.uk/index.html

http://www.bamboogarden.com/

http://www.bambooselect.com/

http://www.lewisbamboo.com/

BM :D

 

Great links BM
You've started something here in Windyville. Alongside my (small) obsession with Miscanthus, I now have several bamboos too! Don't think I'll ever rival your Jungle though :D Down the windy side of the garden I've planted Semiarundinaria 'Kimmei', Fargesia nitida, a dwarf pleiblastus for a bit of ground cover and an unknown one from a car boot sale that only cost �£3!! They're only small yet but I have great hopes for them. Hopefully they won't rampage too much! :D

 

WINDY MILLAR, I love bamboos too and I have 9 vdifferent plants. very hardy and most of them are evergreen. inspiration from BM.

 

Yeah his garden is fantastic isn't it!
My boy loves bamboo after walking through the Bamboozle at Trebah. Not expecting mine to be quite on that or BM's scale, but anything that can interest the kids gets my vote! I love the noise they make in the wind (the bamboo not the kids! :D ) sounds like the sea.
Do you have any problems with yours being invasive?

 

Hi Windy and Fancy, I wish I had room for some edulis!

I terms of invasion I do get sneaky run aways which get the wrath of my spade but as long as you keep an eye on them and plant them sensibly, they should be fine. Where ever possible I have created sections where they cannot escape easily. Like between raised concrete fence plinths and the damp lagged frame of my patio.

BM :D