Outdoor Plant: A Guide to Growing the Golden Bamboo
Introduce this gorgeous plant in your garden as a soother for sore eyes and tired minds
Ketaki Godbole Randiwe
20 October 2017
With its bright green foliage and golden yellow stalks, the golden bamboo is in great demand for creating visual privacy while at the same time infusing freshness into a space. A favourite among both designers and clients, it has made a niche for itself in almost every landscape- and garden-loving household. Hailing from one of the most popular families (bamboos) of the landscaping universe, stylish, sleek, easy to grow and long living, the golden bamboo certainly has got what it takes to be the star of any garden! What’s not to like? Read on to know how to infuse your garden with a little bamboo magic.
Plant at glance
Botanical name: Phyllostachys aurea
Common name: Golden bamboo, fishpole bamboo, monk’s belly bamboo, walking-stick bamboo, fairyland bamboo
Origin: China
Plant type: The golden bamboo is a perennial herb plant that belongs to the grass family (Poeceae), introduced in India and well-adapted to our conditions. It is classified as a woody, evergreen, perennial grass.
Botanical name: Phyllostachys aurea
Common name: Golden bamboo, fishpole bamboo, monk’s belly bamboo, walking-stick bamboo, fairyland bamboo
Origin: China
Plant type: The golden bamboo is a perennial herb plant that belongs to the grass family (Poeceae), introduced in India and well-adapted to our conditions. It is classified as a woody, evergreen, perennial grass.
Size
The plant can reach a height of 30 feet, potentially up to 40 feet in the relatively warmer region of South India. Golden bamboos tower over most other grasses.
Not to be confused with
green bamboo (Phyllostachys bissetii), which is a cousin of the golden bamboo and common in cold and temperate climates. Unlike the green bamboo, the golden bamboo likes tropical growing conditions, but grows well in cooler climates as well.
The plant can reach a height of 30 feet, potentially up to 40 feet in the relatively warmer region of South India. Golden bamboos tower over most other grasses.
Not to be confused with
green bamboo (Phyllostachys bissetii), which is a cousin of the golden bamboo and common in cold and temperate climates. Unlike the green bamboo, the golden bamboo likes tropical growing conditions, but grows well in cooler climates as well.
Signature traits
The golden bamboo can add style and functionality to any landscape. It evokes classic Asian appeal with its light-green sabre-tooth leaves, giving it an incomparable look. A typical golden bamboo plant has golden-coloured stems.
The hollow culms (stalks) are initially green, turning a deepening yellow as the plant ages and on exposure to sunlight.
The golden bamboo can add style and functionality to any landscape. It evokes classic Asian appeal with its light-green sabre-tooth leaves, giving it an incomparable look. A typical golden bamboo plant has golden-coloured stems.
The hollow culms (stalks) are initially green, turning a deepening yellow as the plant ages and on exposure to sunlight.
Looks best
When planted at a distance of 3 feet apart, the golden bamboo provides a quick, impenetrable linear hedge, a graceful grove or an attractive feature in the planting. Growing rigidly upright, this bamboo looks best when planted next to driveways and walkways, and as a visual screen or a buffer for noise reduction.
When planted at a distance of 3 feet apart, the golden bamboo provides a quick, impenetrable linear hedge, a graceful grove or an attractive feature in the planting. Growing rigidly upright, this bamboo looks best when planted next to driveways and walkways, and as a visual screen or a buffer for noise reduction.
When to plant
Golden bamboo can be planted at any time of the year. Summer or monsoon is an immediate gratification time because you can see the growth soon after planting, as opposed to winter when it takes longer for the shoots to grow. To get the effect of a lush bamboo hedge faster, procure bamboo saplings that are pre-grown in nurseries.
Golden bamboo can be planted at any time of the year. Summer or monsoon is an immediate gratification time because you can see the growth soon after planting, as opposed to winter when it takes longer for the shoots to grow. To get the effect of a lush bamboo hedge faster, procure bamboo saplings that are pre-grown in nurseries.
Where is it best positioned
This plant thrives in the sun in most of our climates but requires some shade in extreme heat. Partial shade opportunities with plenty of direct sunlight are good growing conditions for the plant to flourish.
This plant thrives in the sun in most of our climates but requires some shade in extreme heat. Partial shade opportunities with plenty of direct sunlight are good growing conditions for the plant to flourish.
How to plant
Grow in fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil, with both sunlight and shade opportunities.
How to water
The plant prefers moist soil, and will be less likely to suffer from over-watering. Established plants can tolerate drought-like conditions. Give it plenty of water in warmer months.
Grow in fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil, with both sunlight and shade opportunities.
How to water
The plant prefers moist soil, and will be less likely to suffer from over-watering. Established plants can tolerate drought-like conditions. Give it plenty of water in warmer months.
How to fertilise and prune
Fertilise in spring with farmyard manure (an organic manure made from cow dung, straw and other farm waste components). Remove weak, dead, damaged or spindly stems in spring to show off stems to best effect. Cut out any flowering shoots promptly to discourage more from forming.
Fertilise in spring with farmyard manure (an organic manure made from cow dung, straw and other farm waste components). Remove weak, dead, damaged or spindly stems in spring to show off stems to best effect. Cut out any flowering shoots promptly to discourage more from forming.
How to control
In most conditions, this variety of bamboo is a clumping variety (with rhizomes that grow in closely spaced groups near the mother plant), not a running one (with rhizomes that grow at random distances to form new groups), and therefore relatively fewer precautions are required to control it. Control the growth by installing a bamboo barrier like a garden-grade LDPE (plastic) cloth or an LDPE landscape edging sheet to keep it from aggressively spreading.
Bamboo barriers should run 30 inches deep all around the plants, effectively ‘fencing’ them in. Also make sure a couple of inches of the bamboo barrier extend above the surface.
Amazing facts
Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. It can grow up to 35 inches in a single day.
In its native China, it is cultivated for making fishing poles, walking sticks and its edible shoots have the sweetest taste of the bamboo family.
In most conditions, this variety of bamboo is a clumping variety (with rhizomes that grow in closely spaced groups near the mother plant), not a running one (with rhizomes that grow at random distances to form new groups), and therefore relatively fewer precautions are required to control it. Control the growth by installing a bamboo barrier like a garden-grade LDPE (plastic) cloth or an LDPE landscape edging sheet to keep it from aggressively spreading.
Bamboo barriers should run 30 inches deep all around the plants, effectively ‘fencing’ them in. Also make sure a couple of inches of the bamboo barrier extend above the surface.
Amazing facts
Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. It can grow up to 35 inches in a single day.
In its native China, it is cultivated for making fishing poles, walking sticks and its edible shoots have the sweetest taste of the bamboo family.
Landscape tips
Golden bamboo is an excellent choice to introduce into your garden for the purpose of creating a soothing rustling sound. Its dry leaves and hollow stems respond well to breezes.
It can also be used to create dramatic backgrounds and backdrops to seating areas, and even as a specimen feature in the garden to provide an exotic look.
If you plant bamboo in sturdy built-in containers, you won’t need to worry about its spreading to other areas of the garden, a valid concern with bamboo planted in the landscape.
Read more:
5 Plants Best Suited for Indian Homes
8 Gardens for Compact Spaces
Tell us:
If you enjoyed reading this story, like it, bookmark it, and tell us about it. What was your experience with the golden bamboo? Write in Comments below.
Golden bamboo is an excellent choice to introduce into your garden for the purpose of creating a soothing rustling sound. Its dry leaves and hollow stems respond well to breezes.
It can also be used to create dramatic backgrounds and backdrops to seating areas, and even as a specimen feature in the garden to provide an exotic look.
If you plant bamboo in sturdy built-in containers, you won’t need to worry about its spreading to other areas of the garden, a valid concern with bamboo planted in the landscape.
Read more:
5 Plants Best Suited for Indian Homes
8 Gardens for Compact Spaces
Tell us:
If you enjoyed reading this story, like it, bookmark it, and tell us about it. What was your experience with the golden bamboo? Write in Comments below.
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A little more information on pruning or how to restrict height, would be useful