I love bamboo. Honestly, it is one of my favorite choices for instant screening in the garden. It is readily available in many shapes and sizes. It will grow in many different soils and exposures. It is evergreen. It creates wildlife habitat (though sometimes the wildlife is a pest, but we’ll get to that later). It rustles in the breeze adding distraction from noise pollution. And, its just plain beautiful.
Contained Bamboo within a Beautiful Planting Bed
But, let’s face it. This stuff can be invasive. I’ve been invited to consult in gardens where bamboo had no only left the bed it was meant to live in, but it had invaded the root systems of a massive Western Red Cedar, grown over and around every brick in a patio, insinuated itself into a cement house foundation, and busted through the asphalt of a nearby street. Improperly installed and cared for, this stuff can become a nightmare. But, with a little prep work and proper care, bamboo becomes a fantastic addition to the garden.
Here are some tips for installing bamboo. If you do plan to install it in your area I recommend you have a conversation with the nursery owner where you procure your plants. There may be some additional caveots to go along with installing your particular bamboo in your particular location. But, over the years I’ve found taking the following steps should help you keep your bamboo in check:
- To Clump or to Spread: Determine if your bamboo is a clumper or a spreader and then assume its a spreader no matter what. I’ve had clients insist they put in a clumper because it didn’t need to be barriered only to find out it travelled into their garden anyway. Always plan for the most invasive potential!
- Don’t Skimp on the barrier: Don’t assume that burying bamboo in a pot in the ground is going to keep it contained. Often bamboo is installed in wooden containers like wine barrels that eventually decompose. Or in plastic tubs submerged in the soil. Know that given the chance bamboo will bust through these flimsy plastics, travel downward several inches to escape through drain holes, and eat away at wooden materials or cracks to be free of any constraints you impose on it.
- Use Quality Bamboo Barrier Materials:
White Paint for the Bamboo Area
- Determine how much barrier you need: I like to paint out the area where I plan to install the bamboo and then measure the area. I usually buy several extra feet to ensure I have plenty of material to overlap or in case I decide to dig my hole just a bit bigger. (Keep in mind that you’ll need the hole to be wide and long enough to get the bamboo into the ground. Less than 2′ wide is generally going to be too tight.)
- How to seal the barrier:
Overlapped barrier & bolting system
- How deep do I dig and use the barrier: Depending on the type of bamboo you plan to install, you will want to dig a trench to meet its needs. Again, talk to your bamboo supplier to find out how deep you’ll need to dig and which depth of barrier material to install for your bamboo. (Some bamboos can travel more deeply underground and therefore require a deeper barrier material.
Tamping the Soil
Some bamboos are stronger than others and may require a thicker barrier materials than others.) Once you have your barrier material in hand, you can use it to measure the depth of your bamboo hole or trench. Keep in mind that the top of the barrier material should remain exposed above the soil about 4″ to ensure that the bamboo rhizomes don’t hop over it and escape!
- Tips on digging your trench: Over the years I’ve found that digging the outer perimeter, which I line with barrier, and leaving the inner soil nearly intact is easier than digging everything out of a long trench. I tamp the middle of the trench hole to help compact it, which may deter the bamboo from travelling downward initially. If it travels outward where it hits the bamboo barrier, it will send up new shoots more rapidly.
- The barrier I left above ground is ugly: Yes, exposed bamboo barrier is unsightly. But, if you don’t leave it exposed, your bamboo will escape and your efforts will have been wasted. I always leave a nice planting border around a bamboo barrier so I can install evergreen plants to eventually hide the barrier. Since it does take time for plants to mature and completely hide an ugly barrier, I use garden artwork like the willow fence and bamboo fencing shown here. Stone also makes a nice barrier to hide the ugly plastic.
Bamboo installed & Barrier Hidden with Willow Edging
It is critical that you check your bamboo a few times a year, at least, to make sure it hasn’t hopped the border or busted through your barrier. As much as I like to trust my work, I know that being an active participant in my garden’s evolution is critical.
When I’m checking my bamboo, I also keep an eye out for pests. Bamboo mites tend to invade pretty quickly. Bamboo installed in a contained environment is put under stress. Its natural tendency is to travel and grove. The container breaks its natural habit. There are miticides that may be applied, and I’ve heard that compost tea applications can help beat back the mites by increasing the pro-biotic populations. That being said, I have a fairly high tolerance for pests in my bamboo. Why? Well, if the mites come in so do the predatory bees that hunt them and the birds that eat them. I may not get close to the grove when it is buzzing with bees doing their job, but if I leave them be, they leave me be and the bamboo is all the better for it.
Have more questions about bamboo? Please let us know!
