A bamboo garden welcomes us as an evergreen oasis. Enjoy beauty, silence and relaxation endlessly and be one with nature. If you want to have such a paradise in the garden, you need to know which types are suitable and how you can make the bamboo garden easy to care for?

There are 47 genera with over 1300 species worldwide. Bamboo is not just bamboo and it is not just green either: The rhizome-forming flat-tube bamboo Phyllostachys is yellow-green striped to matt black, depending on the variety. The bamboo species and variety is huge and is divided into these four groups:

  • Dwarf bamboo up to 1.5 m in height
  • small bamboo 1.5 m to 3 m
  • medium bamboo 3 m to 9 m
  • Giant bamboo over 9 m

Which bamboo for which garden?

What role should bamboo play in the garden? Guardian, protector, shade provider or exotic eye-catcher? Bamboo plants fulfill many wishes. As a container plant for the terrace and balcony. In the pot as an ornamental plant. If you are planning a secluded garden, you can plant the bamboo as a hedge. As a privacy screen for a cozy seat at the garden pond and not only there, but also outside the garden as an ornament and nibble grass in the aquarium.

Bamboo should not only be chosen for location, soil conditions or its beauty. In addition to the individual growth behavior, its winter hardiness and susceptibility to wind are particularly important. For gardeners and hobby gardeners the two most important bamboo groups are:

  • Phyllostachys, the flat-tube bamboo
  • Fargesia, the umbrella bamboo

In the mild winter climate, the flat-tube bamboo reaches a height of up to 9 meters and a stalk thickness of up to 5 centimeters as a giant bamboo. Its filigree leaves with the decorative stalks convince every garden owner. For example, Phyllostachys vivax Aureocaulis is yellow with green vertical stripes. Phyllostaxgys nigra shows purple-brown to almost black markings on older culms.

The umbrella bamboo tolerates drought better than other varieties. As a medium-sized bamboo, it reaches a height of up to 4 meters. Its picturesque overhanging crown provides shade. It forms only short rhizomes.
There is also the group of ground cover plants such as Sasa and Pleioblastus with a height of only 1 meter. Limit bamboo with a rhizome barrier because of the urge to spread!
Good to know: Rhizome-forming bamboos require much more care and space. They are less suitable for a small garden plot.

The clumpy growing species are particularly easy to care for, evergreen, hardy and can be shaped and cut as you wish. As a single solitary plant in the garden, as a bucket or potted bamboo, they fulfill all the wishes of an easy-care bamboo garden, even on a small plot. Only the bamboos of the genus Fargesia garden bamboo and Borinda come into question.

The best conditions for a low-maintenance bamboo garden

Have you selected and purchased an easy-care and clumpy bamboo for your garden? Congratulations! Now you can get active in the garden. Prepare the optimal bamboo location accordingly. Dig a planting hole twice the size of the plant. Fill the drainage with expanded concrete or gravel to prevent waterlogging. Then mix the excavated soil 1:1 with special bamboo soil and fill in. Maintain a pH of 6.5. This is ideal for the growth of the bamboo.

After watering the root ball you can plant the new bamboo. Don't forget to water the bamboo well and water it with lime-free rainwater or energized bamboo water. In the next few weeks, the bamboo will also need regular water, possibly an organic bamboo fertilizer and some care so that it takes root well. Only cut bamboo in the spring before new growth!

Bamboo as a versatile garden plant

Bamboo can emphasize the beautiful as well as hide the annoying. There are hardly any limits to ideas and possible uses with bamboo:

  • as a hedge plant it offers privacy and wind protection
  • Gives structure to different garden areas
  • creates an atmospheric atmosphere in the garden
  • a green eye-catcher even in winter
  • suitable as an easy-care ground cover
  • creative plant for inside and outside

Depending on the type of bamboo, the plants are used individually or in combination with other plants as:

  • Single solitary plant: interior and exterior design.
  • Group planting: Bamboo plants as a grove offer a large-scale jungle feeling.
  • Hedge: For evergreen, opaque privacy and wind protection.
  • Border: For spatial separation of garden areas.
  • Background Planting: Contrasting with other plants.
  • Underplanting: Dense vegetation under trees and shrubs.
  • Ground cover: Easy-care, robust area green.
  • Slope stabilization: through a dense rhizome network.

tips and tricks

In terms of neighbor law, bamboo is treated like an ornamental shrub. Therefore, comply with the specified limit distances. Set up a rhizome barrier for rooting species!

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