Bamboos have become extremely popular and versatile in the garden. They are best known for creating fast growing, evergreen screening, and are fantastic specimen plants for containers. We have grown some of the hardiest clump varieties, which are most suitable for our customers' needs and their location. Clump forms of Bamboo are fast growing yet remain in proportion with their surroundings and are more manageable to maintain.

It is important to choose the right bamboo for your particular needs. We sell three varieties of Phyllostachys; 'Aureocaulis', 'Spectabilis', and 'Nigra'. Aureocaulis is tall and dense, with attractive kinked banana yellow canes. Spectabilis is tall and dense, but have straight canes with a distinctive decorative green stripe. Nigra, known as 'Black Bamboo' is a thinner variety with striking black canes for dramatic decoration.

Bamboos are happiest in fertile, free draining and evenly moist soil. They don't like waterlogged ground, but it is also important that they do not dry out. They do not like dense shade.

Exposure to wind is probably the most damaging condition, as it can shred the plants and dry out the soil extremely quickly -including during the winter months. Therefore, they are not suitable for seaside coastal gardens.

Bamboos send up new shoots from ground level, which enable them to spread and create screening. If the bamboo is sending up lots of canes and you wish to encourage the spread, you can divide and split the bamboo, and stagger the planting to create a 'wall' of foliage.

In smaller gardens, or where space is limited, it may be advisable to plant the bamboo in a container. An alternative is to surround the bamboos' roots with a non-perishable barrier which will restrict the spread of the plant.

Unlike other plants, pruning the tips of a bamboo won't promote new growth - it will restrict it. If you wait for the Bamboo to reach the height you would like and then prune the top, you will achieve a uniform screen.