BAMBOO

Nothing quite matches a mature bamboo for its sheer grace and elegance, and its impact as a bold statement in the garden, and nothing is quite as bold as giant timber bamboo. The UK climate sadly lacks the summer heat needed for true gigantic proportions as found in China or Japan but even still, spectacular specimen plants are still a possibility when careful site selection and nurturing are considered.

For strong growth bamboos enjoy rich, fertile soil and plenty of water but if well tended initially with time they will reward you magnificently and become low maintenance once established. Pruning weaker growth after the second or even third year and removing branches at lower level allows you to see the beautiful culms in all the colours now commercially available.

Some bamboo do spread and while looking very dramatic in larger gardens and landscapes are not ideally suited for the smallest gardens. Look at it this way; would you plant a large tree in a small garden? Perhaps giant timber bamboos can be compared in space requirement terms to larger trees.
Site selection is key when choosing a bamboo. Most of the larger bamboos fare better in big gardens where they will be better able to show off their beauty.

If your garden is on the smaller side you can still enjoy them but you may need root control barriers that can be bought on the internet or you might consider very large pots - two of these on either side of your front door creates a very impressive entrance.

Relatively reliable in British climates as a potential giant is the all green Phyllostachys vivax, and its form vivax Aureocaulis a beautiful golden yellow with thin yellow stripes. The much rarer P. vivax Huanvenzhu is reversed with green and thin yellow stripes.

The Phyllostachys family traditionally has the largest sized temperate bamboos, but the Chusqueas from Chile also have some very dramatic members such as Chusquea gigantea - a plant every true bamboo enthusiast craves. A magnificent twenty year-old example graces the gardens at RHS garden Wisley.

The now very common black bamboo Phyllostachys nigra may well be a handsome plant but for greater interest and bigger culms you could try more unusual forms such as P. nigra Boryana, also called the ‘snakeskin’ bamboo or Phyllostachys nigra Henonis, which is pure green, but, in fact, is the stronger growing type plant. The much rarer Phyllostachys nigra Megurochiku, when mature, is utterly stunning with black only in the sulcus and the rest of the culms green, turning yellow with age and sun exposure.

In China, Phyllostachys bambusoides grows to colossal proportions. In the UK, 5 to 6 cm diameter culms are more likely but this plant has many beautiful forms that might not grow quite as huge but do better in British climates, among them P. bambusoides Holochrysa which is a deep golden yellow, or the very rare collector’s plant - P. bambusoides Marliacae, named after Monsieur Latour Marliac who introduced this plant to France and on to Western Cultivation. It has characteristic ‘wrinkled’ longitudinal ridges and is desired by every true bamboo collector.

Phyllostachys edulis or ‘Moso’ is bigger yet but may take 20 years to mature in the UK. Some very exciting new introductions are now becoming more readily available, among them, Phyllostachys parvifolia, an alleged giant even in the north of England and Phyllostachys frimbriligula, another untested potential giant. One of the most promising new introductions of all is the still extremely rare and still hard to find Phyllostachys Shanghai 3. Potentially, for British garden, this could be the greatest giant of all. It needs room and is not well suited for a small garden. My specimen is a sprig planted last year. We shall see!

Shahriar Mazandi is a bamboo enthusiast and director of The Cloudesley
www.thecloudesley.co.uk  email him for advice on plant selection and cultivation  info@thecloudesley.co.uk

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Turn on your sound and Click Here for some pictures of the 2008 Sculpture Trail at Pashley Manor Gardens near Ticehurst.
Featuring the work of many eminent sculptors as well as works by local sculptors.

Pictured above are the gardens at Merriments,
Hawkhurst Road, Hurst Green taken in mid April 2008.
The gardens are open until 30th September.
Turn up you sound and Click Here for some more pictures.

Turn on your sound and Click Here for some pictures of the 2007 Sculpture Trail at Pashley Manor Gardens near Ticehurst.

Pictured above are the gardens at Merriments, Hawkhurst Road,
Hurst Green taken in mid May 2007.
The gardens are open until 30th September.
Turn up you sound and Click Here for some more pictures.