Planting Bamboo

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Planting Bamboo

There are 700 or more species ofbamboo in the world, only z of them beingnative to the United States. They are grasses,belonging to a dozen genera, ranging in sizefrom a few feet to too feet or more. Seldom dothey fruit. In the tropics where they are at homethey usually are evergreen, but at least 2 speciesare hardy as far north as Boston, Mass., on theAtlantic seacoast where they have been grownsuccessfully for many years. The farther southone goes, the more species there are hardy, butusually bamboos as such are confined to anarrow strip along the Atlantic Coast from Long Island to a narrow strip of Tex. along theGulf but including most of all the statesbordering the water in between.

On the West Coast, bamboos are grown insouthwest Ariz., Calif., and a very narrow stripalong the Pacific Coast of Ore. and Wash. Someof the tropical species are grown in Fla. and thewarmest strip of land about the Gulf of Mexicoas well as southwest Ariz. and southwest Calif.,chiefly then in Zones 8, 9, to.

Bamboos have woody stems, usually but notalways hollow between the joints. They makegraceful garden plants; some of the low onesmake rapidly increasing ground covers whichmust be kept under rigid control or they becomeweedy pests. Some of the taller types grow inclumps. In the tropical regions of the worldthey are very important economic plants,affording material for building purposes,furniture, tools, weapons and even food,since the young shoots of some are eateneither raw or cooked.

A culm, or vegetative shoot of bamboo, isformed in the spring from food stored in theroots during the previous year, and grows tomature height in a short 5-8-week period. Whenthe shoot matures too ft. high, it is obvious thatthe growth of this is sometimes so rapid it canbe seen with the naked eye when carefullyobserved against a measuring stick. It is apeculiar habit of these plants that the younggrowing culm will always have the same dia. atits base that it will have when the culm hasreached the final height.

Two types of these grasses are the runningbamboos and the clump bamboos. The formersends out underground rhizomes from whichnew above-ground shoots or culms grow in thespring. These are the hardiest of the bamboosand in fact the 2 native American species belongin this group, namely, Arundinacea gigantea,the Canebrake Bamboo of the South which cangrow 3o ft. high and A. tecta which is muchsmaller. The former may be used for fishingpoles and little else; the latter is sometimes usedas cattle fodder. All the so-called runningbamboos can become vicious spreading pests ifnot rigidly restrained in the garden.

It is the tall-growing, often tropical, clumpbamboos that have the gracefully arching culmsand are so distinctive in the landscape whereverthey can be grown. Even though these clumpsdo not spread as rapidly as the others, rootsfrom a single mature clump may spread out25 ft. in all directions, absorbing nutrients andmoisture from the soil and making it difficultto grow anything else close by. Over 6o speciesand varieties of running bamboos have beenintroduced into America, but at present only24 of these are considered to have sufficient economic or ornamental value to be discussedhere.

The running bamboo types briefly mentionedin the following list increase by undergroundrhizomes and range in height from a few feetto 7o feet. The lowest ones, like the Arundinariaspecies, are sometimes used as ground covers,but when used this way they should be restrain-ed by metal strips or concrete sunk in the soilabout 2 ft. deep to insure their staying in place.However, in some good soils this barrier mayhave to be sunk deeper. To keep them a littlelower in height, they might be cut off at theground level every 2-3 years, which makesthem more dense as well.

Some of the clump bamboos like Bambusamultiplex are used as informal hedges. Evensome of the running types like Phyllostachysmeyeri, P. nigra and Semiarundinaria fastuosaare also used this way.

The clump bamboos can be very gracefulornamental specimens. Since these are usuallysubtropical and tropical species and are usuallyevergreen, it should be noted that the culmsusually take 3 years to mature and hardenproperly so that their shoots should not be cutfor economic purposes until they arc 3 years old.The culms of Bambusa vulgaris are frequentlyused for making vases and other ornaments,handles for tools, picture frames, ski poles, etc.Those with yellow or striped culms (Bambusamultiplex vars.) are decidedly ornamental, as are clump bamboo, especially with small leaves, isalways a thing of beauty, since it usually has agraceful, arching, habit and is always rustling inthe slightest breeze.

The edible qualities of some bamboos isnoted in the following list. Most of the Phyllo-stachys species are in this group. Not all speciesare suitable, and some must be cooked, oftenwith changing the water twice, in order toremove the bitter taste. On the other hand, thecentral part of the new shoot of some can beeaten raw, often used in salads.

Usually these new shoots of edible bamboosappear in March, April and May. The periodfor cutting them is about 3-4 weeks, but it isadvisable to mound soil about them to excludethe light and thus prevent them from becomingbitter. The sheath covering the young shootshould be removed, the tough basal part withroots cut off. The tender shoot can then be cuthorizontally in sections about in. thick andcooked about 20 minutes. If it is the slightlybitter type, then changing the water after boilingfor to minutes proves helpful in eliminating thebitter taste.

Propagation

The running bamboos are easily propagatedby taking root cuttings, 12 in. long, of the newrhizomes, keeping them moist during the trans-planting operation which should be undertakenany time from Jan. to March depending on thelocality. They are planted 5-6 in. deep, usuallykept 2 years in the nursery row where they arewatered well and not allowed to dry out. Theyare fertilized with 5-10-5, about one pound orless per too-ft. row. When they are to be trans-planted, it is well to cut the culms back at leasttwo-thirds, and if they are not to be balled, itmight be best to cut them to the ground.

Clump bamboos are easiest propagated bydivision, but only when the weather is warm. Itis a mere cutting of smaller clumps or choppingapart of larger ones, but the culms themselvesmight best be reduced to about 2-3 ft. highwhen this operation is carried out.

Another way of propagating is to try culmcuttings, often successful with Bambusa species,sometimes not so successful with other species.The culm is cut half way above and below anode which bears a small branch. The openends of the culm are packed with moist soil andthe cutting planted horizontally in the soil,taking care that the culm is about 2-4 in. belowthe soil surface and the branch comes above thesoil surface. If done in warm weather and thesoil kept moist, rooting and sprouting shouldtake about a month. A third method is that oflayering, in which an entire culm is dug up, roots and all, preferably one not over 3 yearsold, and laid in a trench, 6 in. deep, in moistsoil. A leafy branch or two is left at each nodeso that they are mostly above ground when theculm is buried. After a few months, one carefullydigs down to the original culm, saws through itat the internodes but leaves the new plantletsundisturbed for another 2 months, after whichtime each plantlet can be dug and transplanted.

Cutting bamboo canes is not as simple as itsounds, for the wood should be thoroughlymature—at least 3 years old—and the canesshould best be sawed off very close to theground. Canes can be straightened by applyingheat, or by hanging the cane upside down andapplying a heavy weight at the end for severalmonths, or merely by applying pressure to flatgreen canes as they are dried on a flat surface.In fact, canes already dried but curved can besoaked in water and then straightened.

Pests

Insect and disease pests on bamboo are notas yet prevalent in this country. Certainly thegardener with only a single plant or two on hisgrounds need pay little attention to it. The fungimay prove troublesome, especially bamboosmut. However, the few outcroppings of thisdisease which have occurred in America havebeen rigidly handled by destroying plants androots as well, so it seems unlikely that it will domuch damage again.

Insects of the sucking type, especially scales,have infested bamboo plants in America. Whereinfestation is heavy, cut and burn heavilyinfested stalks and spray the remainder with awhite-oil emulsion, i-2% oil and 11 pints of5o% malathion emulsifiable solution in too gals.water, sprayed on the plants in midspring whenthe young insects are in the crawling stage.

The United States Department of Agriculturehas had men studying this group for some time,especially F. A. McClure, Joseph R. Haun andRobert A. Young who have supplied theinformation about them given here.

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