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Bamboos are grasses; the silica in their stems is what makes them hard and tree-like. They are evergreen plants and may be treated that way in landscaping, although some hardy species that winter in temperate climates may die back in the cold and resume growth in spring. Bamboo can be a graceful and resilient addition to a garden. It does help to know how each type of bamboo grows before deciding to add it to the landscape.
Bamboo gardens are a landscaping garden arrangement designed to showcase bamboo, but also to include other similar plants as complements. Plants for a bamboo garden should not only complement the bamboo visually, they should have similar environmental needs for ease of maintenance. Plants that will fulfill these functions are those that are native to the same areas as bamboo.
Bamboo is a type of grass plant, closely related to your lawn grass. These perennial plants range in size from several inches tall to over 100 feet in height. One type, Java bamboo (Dinochloa scandens), commonly grows to a mature height between 10 and 30 feet tall. Although it only grows outdoors in climates warmer than U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 9, Java bamboo makes an attractive houseplant in rooms with high ceilings. The quickest way to start new Java bamboo plants is from vegetative cuttings and culms, although planting the seeds is another way to propagate this plant.
Bamboo is a strong yet lightweight and resilient wood that makes an attractive and useful addition to a garden. Bamboo poles are a renewable resource, and can be used to form fences, mark plants, grow vegetables, and a variety of other uses. Determine the needs of your garden, and try to use bamboo poles to meet those needs.
It's almost always better to plow during a storm if you can, the snow is non-compacted and on the whole hasn't frozen or crisped up like it can do after a few sunny days, post storm. Before plowing, make sure you know about any obstructions like fences, tree stumps and rocks that can damage the 72-inch snow plow or the all-terrain vehicle (ATV). You can generally lump special plowing into two sets of conditions---hard-packed snow and deep snow.
Bamboo is a strong grass that grows up to 100 feet tall in some parts of the world, according to the American Bamboo Society, making it a renewable resource perfect for use in the garden. Bamboo is somewhat flexible when first harvested but becomes rigid as it dries out. The Henry Doubleday Research Association's "Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening" notes that untreated bamboo will last from 4 to 8 years, depending on its diameter. Purchase bamboo poles from garden centers, or consider growing your own.
Bamboos are beautiful plants that grow at a rate of up to 24 inches a day--the fastest growing woody plants in the world. Aside from being used in gardens, bamboos are also used as building material and as a source of food. There are many different kinds of bamboo that can grow in different climates, and that is what makes them ideal garden plants.
Planting a bamboo garden adds a lovely evergreen to your landscape. Bamboo comes in many varieties, from dwarf plants to stately plants as tall as a tree. It can be used as an excellent backdrop for your garden. Bamboo can be planted in a container garden as long as the gardener maintains proper moisture and sunlight conditions.
Controlling the spread of invasive bamboos can be a difficult task. Running bamboos can send their stems, or rhizomes deep beneath the soil and over wide distances. Gardeners can use a rhizome barrier to stop the spread of the bamboo and keep it confined to a desired area. The following article is a guide to installing the bamboo rhizome barrier.
Learn how bamboo's history has interwoven with man's history in this free educational video series.
Bamboo's long history is discussed in this free educational video series.
