Bamboo fast-growing evergreen hedge plants?

Bamboos are not the only fast-growing hedge plants. The other fast-growing shrubs for hedging and privacy screening. They are great alternatives to traditional hedge plants like the Green Leylandii, Photinia, Red Robin, Western Red Cedar, Portuguese Laurel and Beech.

The hedging shrubs are evergreen and retain their foliage all year round, while the others are deciduous and lose their leaves in Autumn. 

Many of the hedging trees and shrubs require pruning and mulching to provide neat covers or they’ll grow tall uncontrollably. 

Bamboos are fast-growing, if not the fastest, among the hedging and screening plants. 

In addition, the bamboos are a standout because they come in different varieties. 

We will identify what makes bamboos a good option for hedging, but first, you may be interested in this article that let’s compare the growth rate of 6 common hedging shrubs and trees in the UK.

 

Why use bamboos as a hedging plant?

The bamboos are a group of special hedging plants. 

They will grow fast, reach a certain height and remain evergreen for many years. They have been used extensively in modern landscaping and garden designs to great effects. 

Growing at 2 – 5 ft or 60 - 150cm per year, bamboo is the option for quick hedging. It is fast-growing, evergreen and stands out as the only grass plant for hedging. 

There are, in fact, many varieties of clumping and running bamboos that are suitable for both home and garden hedging. 

Furthermore, these plants come in various sizes, shapes and colours perfect for tall and short hedges. You can trim some bamboos to give a neat hedge while others may not require any trimming at all.

What are the best bamboo plants for hedging?

Although the running bamboo plants are invasive, growing them in contain structures or pots and containers are ideal containment measures. 

Alternatively, choose the clumping bamboos as they are the better options for dense hedges. 

So, if you are looking for a better alternative to the common trees and shrubs and other hedging plants, bamboo hedges are great options.

All You Need to Know About Selecting Bamboo Plants is a guide that will lead you to the right bamboo depending on your preferences. So, check it out and download the PDF version.

Pros and cons of bamboo hedge plants

As a grass variety, bamboos have slim culms, are tall, and slender and tend to grow in masses providing dense evergreen foliage covers all year round. 

But, the running bamboo varieties are invasive and spread very quickly putting out lots of shoots and rhizomes every year. 

This is one of the major reasons why many homeowners and gardeners do not want to grow bamboo hedges. 

Many homeowners who inherited bamboo may find it overwhelming to control the bamboo. These neglected bamboos will require a lot of work to remove. 

They are like a rowdy toddler if you neglect them. 

However, the pros of growing bamboo far outweigh the cons. 

Bamboo plants are formidable hedges. You have to select them carefully, choose the ideal site and care for them as they grow just like the other hedging plants.

How to grow a bamboo hedge?

Clumping bamboos will need spacing of less than a metre in between them. As the clumpers grow, they’ll cover the spaces and provide a formidable hedge. 

The clumpers are perfect for low hedges. 

You’ll have to buy enough clumping bamboo to give you a good hedge or alternatively split the bamboo potted plants so that you can get the thick hedge. 

The running bamboos will spread and ultimately form a dense hedge within 2 to 3 years and reach matured height in 10 to 20 years. 

So, space them out at least a metre to 1.5 metres apart. 

Reassuringly, you do not have to worry about how far to space them. Once the bamboos grow, you can then move them around to cover the gaps.

Care for bamboo hedges

As mentioned earlier, not all bamboos will require trimming. 

They grow to a certain height (called the matured height) and remain that way for 10 – 20 years. 

Whereas other bamboos can be pruned to give a neat appearance. Either way, it boils down to selecting the right bamboo that suits you. 

 The common bamboo care and maintenance include:

• thinning,
• mulching,
• pruning,
• fertilising,
• dig a trench, and
• build boot barrier.

More details on How to Care for Your Bamboo here.

 Provide the right care for your bamboo hedge

Must-do when growing bamboo plants

Before planting bamboo, whether it’s a runner or clumper, you should build a barrier especially when growing them as hedging plants. 

This is an important measure because as they grow, they’ll either spread (runners spread) or expand (clumpers expand). 

Barriers can be root barriers, trenches, raised beds or contained structures – any that works for you.

Things You Must Do When Growing Bamboo in Pots

Bamboo plants in pot and container planters are great for instant privacy screens. Besides, you do not have to worry about the bamboos’ invasiveness because the planters are barriers. 

They also provide the benefit of moving them around to optimise on space available, perfect for small and narrow spaces.

Bamboo plants come in different sizes and shapes. The options are endless. Some tall and slender bamboo varieties are perfect for privacy screening the porches, patios, decks and balconies.

Check out best ways to grow healthy bamboo in pots, or see our sales page where you can find the renowned UK Home & Garden retailers for bamboo plants and supplies.

Ensuring healthy bamboo plants

There are more benefits to using the plants. However, growing bamboo in pot and container planters requires extra care and attention, unlike the garden hedging bamboo screens.

In this article, you will find out about how to:

• choose the best bamboo for small outdoor spaces,
• select the best planters to grow bamboo and
• provide long-term care for the bamboo plants.

How to select the best pots and containers?

There are a lot of recommendations for larger and bigger bamboo planters, but these are not often the best recommendations for narrow outdoor areas like the deck, patio, balcony or porch. 

Unless, of course, use a bigger planter if the outdoor area has enough space for a bigger plant.

When choosing a pot or container for growing bamboo, size, weight and stability matter!

That begs the question what is the best pot or container for planting bamboo plants?

The three-pointers will help you to identify the bamboo planter that suits you.

• A strong and durable frost resistant pot or container planter will act as a root barrier and protect the plant against the cold. Avoid the thin plastic pots because they do not stand a chance against the bamboo rhizomes and clumps in compacted space.
• Avoid growing bamboo in containers that have small openings and heavy tops. If you use these planters, it will be hard to remove the bamboo plants for repotting, or the tall plants will topple to the ground.
• Choose a container or pot that is stable, well insulated and has holes underneath. Here are options for stable square and rectangular pots and container planters and boxes that you should consider when growing bamboo for an apartment balcony, home or office.

Space matters when growing bamboo plants

Perhaps the important point to consider when selecting a pot or container for growing bamboo is the space available on your porch, patio, deck or balcony. Most of these spaces are usually narrow.

Ideally, the narrow rectangular heavy-duty containers are best for this kind of space. For the corners, you may want to choose a heavy-duty square container planter.

Some DIY wooden and metal containers are great for other plants, but not ideal for bamboo plants. 

Furthermore, the metals pots do not have good insulations as they either absorb or lose heat pretty quickly in Summer and Winter, respectively.

If you still wish to use DIY wooden containers to grow bamboo, the best thing to do is to use the treated timbers that can last longer than 5 years. 

As for the metal containers, ensure that they are well insulated from heat and cold.

Above all, ensure that the pot and container planters for growing bamboo are strong and stable, are well insulated, and have good drainage.

 

Choose large pots or container planters

You can move the bamboo into a larger pot or container planters. It is going to be a tedious operation getting the bamboo out. 

However, if you are using the square and rectangular container box, you’ll find it easier to uproot the plant and repot it while saving the old container box.

In a case where it is difficult to remove the plant from the container planter, you will have to decide whether to keep the plant or keep the planter box. That means that you will have to destroy one and save the other.

The best time for repotting a bamboo plant into the container planters is early Spring when the new growths are prominent. 

Avoid environmental stress in confined areas

Like other potted plants, bamboos in pots require attention if they were to thrive in the confined space. 

One of the main reasons why bamboo leaves turn yellow (more info here) is the lack of moisture and nutrient in the soil. 

Undoubtedly, bamboo in pots and container boxes will grow well where there is good moisture and nutrient in the soil.

Many pot and container planter boxes have a hollow bottom where the water drains out pretty quickly. 

Bamboo plants tend to lose more water through transpiration through the thin and slender leaves compared to other thick leaves plants.

Poor drainage and a high rate of transpiration are often the main reasons why the soil in pot planters becomes devoid of nutrients and moisture. This is the main cause of the yellowing of bamboo leaves and browning culms.

How to improve soil condition in pots?

There are two things you can do to improve the soil moisture and soil nutrients in pot and container planters.

Firstly, fill the base of the pot and container planters with pebbles, gravel or a porous pot filler to stop it from losing water. 

Do not block the hole at the bottom of the planters completely because the bamboo plants dislike waterlogged containers.

In addition, leave a spacing of about 10cm to 15 cm at the top of the pot and container planters after you’ve planted the bamboo. This space is very important for mulching and fertilising the plants later.

Secondly, use nutrient-rich loam soil and or potting compost when potting bamboo plants into containers to give them the best start. 

Here is the right mixture of clay to sand to silt to create an ideal loam for growing bamboo. 

Alternatively, a 50/50 mix potting compost contains the right nutrient and moisture for new bamboo plants to thrive in the pots.

If you need more information on how to grow bamboo, check out the Instructional Guides from YouGarden.

How to stop tall bamboo in pots from falling down?

Ominously, the tall bamboo plants will sway in the wind and topple to the ground if the pots are unstable. When this happens, you are likely to have a damaged plant, or pot, or both.

To avoid bamboo in pots falling to the ground, choose a pot or container planter with good stability.

A regular occurrence is when the tall bamboo culms lean out of the bamboo cluster or grove. In this case, use the garden ropes to tie them back. 

Protect potted bamboo roots and rhizomes from cold and frost

The bamboos in pots and container planters require insulation in Winter when the temperature falls to negative values.

Although the bamboo plants are tough and hardy, the roots and rhizomes are above ground level and are directly exposed to the weather, unlike the plants on the ground. 

The bamboo plants in the planter pots are prone to frost, frozen soil and, even, the Winter’s chill.

The best way to protect the bamboo in the planters is to add mulch and cover the base of the pots with an insulating blanket, bubble wrap or special plant insulation fleece.

Do these when bamboo in pot and container planters grow big

The running and clumping bamboo plants will reach full growth in the pots and containers within 2 – 5 years. That is the period when the plants are at their peak. 

They’ll display evergreen foliage, shiny culms and beautiful leaves – an ideal time to enjoy the beauty of your bamboo plants.

The plants will thrive for more than 5 to 10 years in large pot planters under the right conditions and care mentioned in this article. 

To continue to enjoy them, there are a couple of things you can do to keep the plants in the pot longer.

How to maintain bamboo plants in pots and containers?

Bamboo plants are relatively hardy bamboo and can withstand air temperatures as low as – 20 degrees Celsius in normal growing conditions. 

However, bamboo plants in pots and containers without the right insulations will struggle to survive at such very low temperatures.

So the first thing to do before planting them is to insulate the containers by using styrofoam which is light and great for extra insulation. 

In addition, the new bamboo plants are prone to slugs damage. Add Slugs and Snail Killer to protect new shoots and rhizome tips.

Here are some general protection measures to apply when planting bamboo in pot and container planters;

• Apply Slug and Snail Killer around your new bamboo.
• Add organic mulch.
• Tie the long culms to bamboo sticks or poles.
• Add insulation inside the pot and containers.
• Cover the pots and containers with additional insulation fleece or blanket when the temperature drops to negative degrees Celsius.

‘Thinning’ bamboo in pot and container planters

Remove the old unhealthy culms (canes) to give the new shoots a chance to reach full height. In fact, the new shoots will be stronger and taller than previous bamboos, so encourage new growth if you want taller and healthier plants.

After 5 – 10 years, you will have to carry out ‘thinning’. Remove the older bamboo culms and rhizomes from the pots and containers, and separate the culms into segments for repotting. This activity is best done in Spring.

At this juncture, we provided insight into how to select and grow the perfect bamboo plants in pots for the small outdoor space at home, the office or the rental place. 

If you are undecided, do not worry. Check out the Award Winning bamboo plants.

We hope this article helps you. Let us know what you think in the comment below.

How close to the boundary can you grow bamboo plants?

Bamboo plants are great because they are fast-growing and beautiful natural plants.

They are also invasive, but not all bamboo plants do spread. We advocate for bamboo root/rhizome barriers when growing the running bamboo plants.

Here are some tough questions that you should ask when growing bamboo along the boundaries and build-up areas.

 

How close to the pavement to grow screening bamboo?

Careful when growing privacy screening bamboo near patios and pavements. 

The patios and pavements laid with sand do not stand a chance against the rhizome’s tips. The tips will invade the tiny gaps and force their way through the pavement blocks.

Choose a suitable clumping bamboo to plant near patios and pathways. 

If you choose running bamboo, create a barrier. Alternatively, dig a small trench or a raised base (bed) to protect the pavement.

How far away from the neighbour’s side to grow bamboo?

Grow the bamboo in a barrier and at least a metre away from the boundary. This ‘one-metre’ space provides Access Way to the bamboo plants and will help you to monitor the growth of the new shoots and rhizome tips.

The key point is that the Access Way helps you to spot and stop running rhizomes and shoots growing into the neighbour’s side. In other words, leave a gap between the boundary and where you chose to plant the bamboo.

If you wish to grow a bamboo privacy screen close to the boundary, use a raised base (bed) or dig a narrow trench to stop the bamboo from creeping onto your neighbour’s side.

Related articles on Evergreen Outdoor Privacy Screen

Readers' note: This article is so long that we split it into several parts. Here are the related parts that you may also like to read:

• PART 1: EVERGREEN BAMBOO SCREENS FOR BALCONY AND TERRACE
• PART 2: FAST-GROWING EVERGREEN OUTDOOR PRIVACY SCREEN - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW [WITH IMAGES]
• PART 3: HOW CLOSE TO THE BOUNDARY CAN YOU GROW BAMBOO PLANTS?
• PART 4: BAMBOO PRIVACY SCREEN CARE AND MAINTENANCE
• PART 5: HOW DOES A BAMBOO PLANT GROW? [VIDEO]

Solve Bamboo Problems with ‘Access Way’

Many people want to grow bamboo, but they fear it might spread uncontrollably.

Reassuringly, there is no need to worry if you want a quick result for a bamboo screen. Try to understand how a bamboo plant grows and use the 4 tips to grow healthy bamboo plants.

The tips are based on our experience dealing with running bamboo plants growing along the boarder. They are effective in keeping the rhizomes from spreading. 

• Create an ‘Access Way’: The hedging bamboo plants are controllable if you create an ‘Access Way’. The access will enable you to monitor the new growths that are not behaving.

• Trim the new shoots: Trim the new bamboo shoots close to the ground, usually in Spring, when the new plants are germinating. (You will need the access way to monitor the new shoots).

• Control the new rhizome tips: To stop the running bamboo rhizomes from misbehaving, dig the new rhizome tips and remove them, immediately.

• Selective pruning: This applies to both the running and clumping bamboo where you can remove the old culms to promote new growth. You can also direct the new growth into the foliage to create a dense hedge.  the video of our work running bamboo. We tie back the Phyllostachys aureosulcata Spectabilis and create a dense hedging screen)

Importantly, without any access to the hedging bamboo screen, it is going to be hard to control them as they grow. 

Here are some suggestions and care tips that will help you with your choice of bamboo covers.

How close to the neighbour's side should you grow bamboo plants? How these questions and answers with tips will help to avoid any potential neighbour's dispute.