Quote:
Originally Posted by seneca
I have 3 bamboo plants (clump forming Phyllostachys aurea or golden bamboo) and they are currently growing as 3 fat columns about a metre apart. I want to move them to another part of the garden and spread them out to cover a rather ugly fence. WHat I was wondering was, could I divide the bamboo into say 8 smaller plants and put them in a line with very little spacing between them. This way they would act like a screen and cover the whole fence. BTW - the bamboo is about 3m tall and each root is abou 40cm wide. Is dividing them a wise thing to do, or will I end up with 8 dead bamboo plants. Any tips on how to split them (roots are solid like a block of wood) and not wreck the roots. Also, any tips on how to give them the best possible start.
(I read on an american website that there should be 3 canes in each section and this should be trimmed to 0.5m high. And this chaps soaks the roots in a bath of rooting hormone! sounds a bit crazy to me. I have never trimmed the height of bamboo, just left it to grow tall. What happens if it is trimmed? does it carry on growing upwards, or does it just die back?)
that's all folks
(UK)
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Unfortunately most garden centres in Britain tell lies about bamboo - as Travis says P aurea is not a clumping bamboo. In places with mild damp summers it can spread like wildfire, and that includes SW Britain and the south coast. But in the climate most of us have in Britain, it doesn't usually wander much. It sounds like yours is doing a bit of wandering.
When you say 3 broad columns, I presume you mean 3 clumps, each clump made up of several culms. If so, absolutely no reason you shouldn't do exactly what you suggest. P Aurea is known to take easily from divisions - not all bamboos do. You can use an axe or a saw to help you divide them. Remember there are also fine filamentous roots as well as the fat rhizomes, get some of that also.
The US advice is I think good advice, especially the bit about having a reasonable sized section, and cutting down the culms to short size. When the plant is growing normally, you don't shorten the culms. But when you divide the plant, it is a good idea, the division may fail without it. The reason is that you are damaging the roots, and what is left cannot support such large culms, so you need to shorten them. The culms so shortened will remain short for the rest of their life, but new tall culms will soon grow up between them, and then you can prune out the shortened culms. A divided bamboo will generally revert to juvenile form, and need to spend some time rebuilding its roots. So it will send up some rather small thin culms in the first year, and it may be a couple of years before it gets back to sending up 3m culms again.
I don't know how helpful the rooting hormone is, I have successfully divided bamboo without it.
I would suggest you wait a bit for things to warm up before you do this, but make sure you do it some time before it wants to start shooting new culms. In a warmer part of the country that could be March, or for most places April. Autumn is even better, say September/October.