Bamboo:Fast-growing evergreen foliage makes these plants excellent garden features

摘要

Bamboo is one of those wonder plants that provides food for people and animals, material for building or scaffolding and even medicine. Gardeners simply want to use it for its ornamental qualities. It provides fast-growing, long-lasting stands of attractive evergreen foliage that is generally hardy down to -15°C. With a little care to contain the spreading varieties, bamboo can be an excellent feature in the garden.They are part of the grass family, Poaceae, and produce new stems, known as canes or culms, from a rhizomatous root system. The canes grow for around 60 days and then stop, but they can last for 10 years. There are more than 1,500 species, grouped into more than 100 genera. Some are low-growing, others reach 5m tall and there are many different coloured canes and types of foliage.If you want a tall specimen, you cannot go wrong with a Phyllostachys, of which there are many fantastic forms. Fargesia make nice clump-forming bamboos that are short to medium in height, making them a good choice for smaller gardens where they can create a hedge. If prepared to embrace the spreading nature of bamboos and use them as ground cover, go for the Sasa with their large, glossy leaves.