Fargesia Questions ! Novice needs Help !
 

I planted Fargesia plants round my garden in the NorthWest region of GREAT Britain. Some have loved it & are 8 feet tall but others look sickly & are more like 1 foot tall. The label just says Fargesia.
1 - How can I help them ?
2 - I really want to divide them, is this possible & if so how ?
3 - Will they spread underground ? as no sign yet
4 - Can I take cuttings ?

Many thanks for your help in advance, Pete

Very hard to say very much about your sickly 1ft high plants. I can tell you this story. I bought several bamboo plants and divided them before planting in the garden. One of those divisions, in a less than ideal location, only just survived, and at the end of the first year I was left with one 6" high living culm. From this very weak and weedy situation it has survived for several years. I am informed that once it finally establishes itself it will take off, but will take several more years.

Dividing. The amateur can usually do "major divisions", though not all species appreciate it. Just split the clump and plant the divisions somewhere else, in nicely improved soil, and water well. I have successfully divided Fargesias. Expect the plant to be knocked back by the experience, could take 2 or 3 years to get back to condition. A major division should have at least 4 culms and a decent quantity of root attached. It helps to cut down the culms after division, or at least to partially deleaf them. Best time of year is September/October, second best is March/April. "Splitting the clump" is easy to say, but you may need things such as a saw or axe to achieve it.

Fargesias are "true clumping" bamboos and thus much less invasive at the root than most other bamboos you can grow in GB. Generally speaking you can rely on them to stay put, and only rarely send out the odd feeler. Trouble is that bamboo classification is very difficult, and some bamboos currently identified as Fargesias may turn out to be Yushanias which have a more inquisitive rhizome.

Propagating bamboo by root cuttings, and even rarer by culm cuttings, is specialist stuff: buy a specialist book on bamboo, or google it and see what you find.