Caring For Bamboo

For the Landscape contractor who may be unfamiliar with planting and maintenance of bamboo, New Shoots Bamboo is happy to offer guidance and expertise to ensure the long-term viability and enjoyment of your bamboo for your customers.

Bamboo is a grass, not a tree! We treat bamboo as you would treat a lawn, regular feeding and proper irrigation with good drainage will ensure good long-term growth. Bamboo do not like wet feet because as a grass, the roots can rot. They should not be planted in any location that retains water. Instead we recommend a location with good drainage and for each clump of bamboo to receive water via their own irrigation emitter and be fed high nitrogen lawn fertilizer that does not contain herbicides or pesticides.

Tropical clumping bamboo can attain an on average diameter of 8 feet across. Pre-planning for bamboo location in consideration of size, natural or man-made barriers, irrigation and overhead concerns like power lines should be thoughtfully considered.

New Plants

Water the bamboo, when first planted, every day for 3 to 4 weeks to allow the plant to get well established in it’s new location and then 3 days a week depending on natural rain occurrences.

Prepare the planting area by removing grass and weeds.
Dig a hole slightly bigger than the root ball.
Mix existing soil with compost, manure or top soil and put some in the bottom of the hole before adding root ball.
Plant so ¼ of root ball is out of the ground and then mound remaining soil on the exposed root ball and add a minimum of 3" depth of mulch to encourage drainage, moisture retention and growth.

Established Plants

Water bamboo when the top inch of soil is dry but avoid over soaking. When bamboo leaves curl up like a canoe, the plant needs water!

Pull weeds that grow near bamboo plants by hand. Bamboo roots grow close to the surface and may be damaged by gardening tools.
Use of weed killers around bamboo can cause mutation to occur.
Avoid chemicals found in faucet water, use filtered water or rain water instead.
Use lawn fertilizer and maintain a minimum 3" depth of mulch to retain moisture and minimize weeds. Regular feeding keeps plants healthy and strong
Always carefully remove dead canes as close to the ground as possible to encourage new growth.