Fargesia Bamboo

If there are two things most of us know about bamboo they’re that it produces hollow canes and pandas eat it. There is a whole lot more to know about bamboo. 

There are over 1,000 different bamboo species, growing natively on every continent except Europe. They almost all have hollow stems, grow in dense clumps and many grow very, very quickly. Some species are known to grow at a rate of almost 4cm per hour. Yes, per hour. This one, umbrella bamboo, is a lot slower than that, but still a quick grower. 

Bamboo likes to grow in quite moist soil and loves sun, though it will also do well in partial shade. This species is very leafy, as well as tall, and its canes arc gently. It makes a lovely backdrop for other plants and is also very useful as a screen, because of its dense growth. Use it to hide any unattractive parts of your outdoor space, or as a way to divide your garden, or to create privacy on balconies.

Because it grows quickly, you’ll probably want to thin him out each year by chopping out older growth. It's also better grown in pots rather than in the ground as it does have a habit of taking over as much of the garden as it can.

Did you know?

Bamboo is significant in the mythologies of a number of Asian countries. In Phillipine mythology the first man and woman emerged from a stem of bamboo.