Many gardeners recently have turned to tropical-looking canna lilies, ornamental grasses and tender, colorful caladiums to create unusual and dazzling displays. But mention bamboo and even experienced gardeners have been known to shudder.
Bamboo, however, has gotten a bum rap. “People don’t have all the facts,” says Richard Hawke, plant evaluation program coordinator for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.
“It’s perceived as weedy or aggressive, and in milder climates, that can be a problem, but I certainly didn’t see that in our trials,” Hawke says. “It’s a publicity problem more than anything.”
For those who want impact, bamboo offers many textures, colors and leaf sizes.
After evaluating 14 types over a five-year period, Hawke concluded that bamboo can be recommended and successfully grown in the Midwest, as long as gardeners take care when selecting, placing and managing these exotic members of the grass family.
Like their grassy cousins, bamboos are categorized as clump-forming or running. And like grasses, they tend to turn tan in late autumn when the above-ground stems die.
One striking difference is that it may take several decades before they flower. “Don’t even consider flowers. It’s all about the foliage or the canes,” Hawke says.
You might not regard bamboo as a ground cover, but that’s one of the best ways to use it in the Chicago area. Hawke particularly likes the unusual color combinations of Pleioblastus viridistriatus, a green and yellow-gold bamboo, and Pleioblastus argenteostriatus, which has yellowy-white and green leaves. Both grow less than 3 feet tall.
It’s true they can spread, so Hawke cautions, “You’ll see runners coming up in the turf, but you deal with it. As long as it doesn’t consume the rest of your garden.”
Control
One thing that helps prevent bamboo from becoming a kudzu-like monster in our climate is that it only has one flush of growth in spring.
“It produces shoots just once a year and if you knock over the new shoots [with a lawnmower], you’ve corralled it,” says Chris DeRosa, landscape designer and owner of the New England Bamboo Co. in Rockport, Maine.
“A lot of people put bamboo on the edge of a pond, because water is a barrier, and then they just mow around the other side of it,” DeRosa says. Other methods of constraint include polyethylene barriers buried vertically 2 1/2 to 3 feet in the soil to contain bamboo roots and runners.
DeRosa sees gathering interest in bamboo tied to the increased use of ornamental grasses. “There’s no question that more people in the Midwest are using bamboos. They’re the most adaptable plant I’ve ever experienced. They grow in full sun to mid-shade and in any soil type. They’re not bothered by disease and you don’t have to spray for pests.”
He touts bamboo as a deerproof plant because the canes contain a gritty silicalike substance that makes them unpalatable.
About care
When it comes to maintenance, bamboo is treated like other ornamental grasses–cut back to the ground in late winter before new growth begins. Its only other requirement is adequate moisture during the growing season to push up canes.
Susanne Lucas, president of the 1,100-member American Bamboo Society, doesn’t understand why more people don’t plant bamboo. “It’s certainly not a new plant to American gardens. It’s been used for more than a century,” Lucas says. “We’re trying to change a lot of myths about bamboo being tender or invasive.”
As a child in New England, Lucas was intrigued by her neighbor’s living fence of bamboo canes. “They dance in the wind and have a beautiful texture in the winter landscape,” Lucas says.
Besides horticulturists, the society counts artists, musicians and designers among its ranks. “They are inspired by bamboo and [harvest] it for other uses.”
Not too tall
In his Massachusetts garden, DeRosa grows clematis that clambers its way to the top of a 22-foot-tall bamboo. Don’t expect to grow giant bamboos in colder Chicago, however.
“They don’t mature very high in our climate,” Hawke says. “We found those with variegated leaves very interesting, but they’re down at knee level. It would be very difficult to get one growing 10 to 12 feet or more unless you can give it a Zone 6 or 7 climate year-round,” Hawke says.
“It is possible to grow bamboo without fear if you stick with the clumping types,” says Nancy Ondra, whose new book, “Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design” (Storey Books, $19.95), includes some bamboos. Some species of the genus fargesia “are super choices because they grow in distinct, dense clumps and are very cold-hardy.” Since they create graceful lines and quiet elegance on their own, “I think it a shame to worry about combining bamboos with other plants,” says Ondra. “When you crowd them with companions, you lose the elegant verticality of some varieties.”
One of Ondra’s favorites is the glossy black-stemmed Phyllostachys nigra, a running bamboo. It is only hardy to Zone 6–too tender for Chicago–but “it grows well in pots,” says Ondra, “so gardeners in colder areas can enjoy it as a houseplant during the winter and set it outside for summer.”
6 good bamboos
Here are the six top bamboos selected in Chicago Botanic Garden trials for overall ornamental quality and ground-cover potential in our Midwestern climate, according to plant evaluation manager Richard Hawke.
– Pleioblastus viridistriatus: Also known as Pleioblastus auricomus, an upright spreading bamboo with brilliant yellow-streaked leaves; likes some shade.
– Pleioblastus argenteostriatus: Also known as Pleioblastus akebono, another spreader, but with green-and white leaves.
– Phyllostachys nuda: An upright spreading full-sun bamboo; quite cold-hardy.
– Phyllostachys bissettii: A full-sun spreading bamboo, good for hedges.
– Sasaella masamuneana var. albostriata: A dwarf spreading bamboo with green-and-white leaves. Prefers some shade.
For complete results of the garden’s bamboo trials, send $3 to: Plant Evaluation Program, c/o Richard Hawke, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe, IL 60022.
— Nina Koziol
More information
Here are some sources for learning more about growing bamboo.
– The American Bamboo Society has information on its Web site, publishes a magazine and sponsors events. Write to American Bamboo Society, Membership Information, 750 Krumkill Rd., Albany, NY 12203-5976, or visit www.americanbamboo.org/.
– New England Bamboo Co. does a mail-order business in bamboos and ornamental grasses. For catalog ($5), write to New England Bamboo Co., 5 Granite St., Rockport, MA 01966; call 978-546-3581; or see www.newengbamboo.com.
– A selection of hardy bamboo is carried at the Chalet Nursery & Garden Shops, 3132 Lake Ave., Wilmette, IL 60091, 847-256-0561, www.chaletnursery.com
– “Bamboo for Gardens” by Ted Jordan Meredith (Timber Press, $39.95) is a detailed guide by a bamboo aficionado.
— Nina Koziol
