Bamboo is one of the most invasive plants on the planet, but you don't have to let it take over your yard. There are many ways to control bamboo and keep it from spreading throughout your garden.
We'll discuss how to keep bamboo in check, so that you can enjoy a beautiful garden without all the extra maintenance!
Bamboo is a plant that fills a space in a garden and can take over if you are not careful. Bamboo is considered a fast growing perennial plant that really doesn't have a season plant or a winter.
It is really hard to control and can get out of control if not controlled or taken care of properly.
The first thing to keep in mind when trying to control bamboo is that at some point it will need water. Without a constant supply of irrigation, most species are going to be limited by the Sun and wind for moisture.
So if you want to limit the spread of your bamboo plantings, make sure they're not touching each other or encroaching on areas where there isn't any natural rainfall.
The key word here is "natural" because people have found ways around this limitation with artificial watering systems - such as installing low-flow sprinklers so that plants get just enough water from frequent light rainstorms or building ponds near their gardens which retain rainwater runoff and release a steady trickle over time.
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Bamboo is native to Asia, but has spread throughout the world. There are approximately a hundred different varieties of bamboo plants with their own specific characteristics and growing conditions.
One way to categorize them is by how tall they grow, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what makes each type unique:
These species can reach heights over 100 feet (30 meters) high and live for up to 150 years!
The downside? Giant timber bamboos don't make good landscape additions because they're so large in size and prone to sprouting unwanted shoots from underground rhizomes along with their bases which can be quite invasive.
These grow in patches rather than spreading out and will only reach heights of about 15 feet (about the height of a two-story house).
They are great for privacy screens, instant hedges or as an accent plant to any garden that needs some interesting variety.
This species is often mistaken for trees because they're so tall! The tallest one ever recorded was 100 feet high!
Their leaves resemble what you see on palm trees but don't be fooled by their size, clumping bamboos can still make good screen plants.
Which have no apparent rhizomes and produce shoots from nodes along its length; these varieties spread quickly too forming dense stands of bamboo.
If you have running bamboos, it is best to keep the shoots pruned back in order to prevent an invasion of your yard and garden space!
To control how much bamboo you want growing on your lawn, plant clumping varieties such as Phyllostachys nigra or Fargesia robusta.
These grow in patches rather than spreading out and will only reach heights of about 15 feet (about the height of a two-story house). They are great for privacy screens, instant hedges or as an accent plant to any garden that needs some interesting variety.
"The bamboo palms" - this species is often mistaken for trees because they're so tall! The tallest one is in Singapore and is 62.89 feet tall!
Plant non-native species that compete with bamboo for water and nutrients. These include fruit trees (e.g., citrus, avocado), weeping willows, roses, or other ornamental shrubs like rhododendrons and hollies.
Bamboo can't grow well in the shade so it's not a viable option to plant these plants under your existing bamboo stands because they'll just be shaded out by the taller bamboos around them.
Instead, put them at least 20 feet away from the nearest bamboo stand if possible; otherwise, space them closer together than you would normally do with those plants as long as there is adequate sunlight where they are planted.
