Especially in China you can find conservatories artfully decorated with bamboo. In German gardens, too, more and more hardy bamboo species are shaping the cold season. Which types of bamboo can withstand the cold and how to get safely through ice and snow.
Hardy bamboo varieties at a glance
If you want to enjoy green leaves in winter, bring evergreen, hardy plants into the garden. Whether outdoors in the garden or as a container plant, these types of bamboo are particularly suitable for this:
- Fargesia murielae
- Phyllostachys bissetii
- Phyllostachys aurea
Bamboo Fargesia murielae Germany's most popular bamboo
This bamboo is one of the most popular evergreen garden plants in Germany. It convinces with characteristics such as being very hardy, clump-forming and bushy growing. In comparison to the rhizome-forming bamboos, it does not spread underground. It grows like a perennial and is very bushy. Its stems reach a height of 5 meters. Up to 10 branches, each with 6 leaves, grow from the nodes of the stalks. This growth form is recommended for a single planting or for hedge design. Other very hardy bamboo plants of the genus Fargesia:
- Fargesia murielae Standing Stone
- Fargesia murielae Green Arrows
- Fargesia nitida is currently in bloom!!!
Phyllostachys bissetii not only for panda bears
It tolerates heat, cold, wind and drought better than other varieties with very good winter hardiness. Its good pruning tolerance makes it an all-rounder for every garden. It reaches a height of 8 meters and is therefore not only suitable as a solitary plant in a tub, but preferably as a hedge.
Good to know: Bamboo water can be used to brew a tasty tea from the freshly harvested leaves. Its sprouts can be eaten raw or used to refine salads and vegetables.
Panda bears also like to eat it.
Phyllostachys aurea the golden Beijing bamboo
Phyllostachys aurea is also called Golden Peking Bamboo. Its yellow stems, which shimmer golden in the sun, are always an eye-catcher. The young culms take on a reddish color in the sun. It grows up to 7 meters high and is suitable in a pot or as a hedge bamboo.
Phyllostachys aurea belongs, together with Phyllostachys bissetii, to the hardiest bamboo species. Both tolerate minus temperatures down to -25° C. Like all Phyllostachys species, Phyllostachys bissetii and Phyllostachys aurea also form underground root runners and therefore require a rhizome barrier!
What does the marking hardy say on plants?
- Not hardy - temperatures around freezing point are tolerated only briefly or not at all.
- Moderately hardy - temperatures from -8°C to -15°C are tolerated for a few days in a sheltered location.
- Very hardy - temperatures from -15° C to -20° C are tolerated for a few days depending on the location.
- Very hardy - temperatures from -20°C to -25°C are tolerated by the plant for a few days. Not from the leaves! Leaf damage can occur. In the spring, these leaves fall off and new ones form again.
tips and tricks
Water bamboo plants on frost-free days! Make sure that the root area neither dries out nor freezes! Otherwise the roots will dry up and die.