Care Of Bamboo
A Few Important Tips On The Care Of Bamboo
You may not have to put quite as much effort as you might think into the care of bamboo, as they tend to be hardy when derived from the clumping class. If you are starting the care of bamboo at a very early age, when the trees are less than 5 feet tall, you will want to keep in mind that they are more susceptible to heavy winds and malnutrition, and that they can also be easily drowned out and smothered by competitive weeds and more aggressively rooted plants. In short, when planting young bamboo, you may want to place them in their own area, and if you are planting more than one young tree, place them at least 5 feet from one another. This will guarantee that they all have the space that they need to establish and grow.
The care of bamboo includes knowing where to plant them in order for their needs to be met. These beautiful, unique trees need at least 5 hours of full sun per day, so strategically placing them away from the house and thickets of other trees where they might be shaded for too long each day is the best choice. Young bamboo also needs protection from wind and heavy, sudden breezes, so throwing up a wind barrier around them for the first two years after the transplant can help them to succeed. Now that we have established the best placement and sheltering for your young bamboo, we can get down to the dirt.
Care of bamboo which spreads through rhizomes in the root system will be a bit more tedious than care for the clumping varieties, but if you are looking for a fast growing and heavy barrier tree, these may be the type for you. Most clumping bamboo species will gain 2 feet of height per year, maxing out at around 7 years. The rhizome rooted, or running bamboo, will gain up to 5 feet per year in growth, also topping off at 7 years or less. And because the running types spread so quickly, there will be constant shoots rutting up and helping to close the gap more quickly. If you wish to control the spread of these trees, you can dig barriers in the soil to keep them in a certain area.
The nutritional care of bamboo will be just about the same for each species, and will include plenty of water and frequent feedings with a natural, water soluble fertilizer. If you are planning to plant bamboo in your yard, you will not want to rake up or get rid of the organic materials in the plotted areas. Care of bamboo includes nutritious mulch and constant natural replenishment, so let the ground get dirty.