Growing Bamboo in Your Yard: Zones and Outdoor Care

Start with your hardiness zone

Bamboo is a giant, woody grass, and the first thing that decides whether it will do well in your yard is winter cold. Look up your USDA hardiness zone (or the equivalent for your country) and compare it with the rating on the plant label or the nursery listing.

Broadly, the picture looks like this:

• Cold-hardy clumping bamboos such as many Fargesia are generally rated for roughly zone 5 and warmer, though they often dislike hot, humid summers.
• Hardy running bamboos (mostly Phyllostachys) cover a wide range, and several are rated well into the colder zones.
• Tropical clumping bamboos such as Bambusa are for mild-winter regions. Some nurseries recommend them only for warmer zones, roughly 9 and up, and a few cultivars are sold for zone 7b or 8 gardens.

Treat any rating as a guide, not a guarantee. A cold, windy winter or a late-planted young plant can do more damage than the number suggests. If bamboo is already thriving in a neighbour’s garden, that is useful local evidence. For a closer look at ratings by species, see cold-hardy bamboo varieties for zones 5 to 7, and for the wider picture of climate, see where bamboo will grow.

Pick clumping or running bamboo before anything else

Bamboo spreads in one of two ways, and this choice shapes every later job in the garden.

• Clumping bamboo forms a tight, slowly widening clump. It does not send out long runners, so it usually needs little containment.
• Running bamboo spreads by underground rhizomes that can surface some distance from the parent plant. It can be contained, but it needs a plan: a barrier, a container, or regular root pruning.

For most home gardens, clumping types are the easier choice. Running types make sense where there is space, or where you are willing to maintain a barrier. The trade-offs are covered in running vs clumping bamboo. If you are unsure whether bamboo suits your yard at all, is bamboo a good plant to have in your yard? weighs the pros and cons.

Choosing a spot: sun, wind, soil and drainage

Light. Most large bamboos grow best with several hours of direct sun, and nurseries commonly suggest about five or more hours. Many Fargesia and some other smaller bamboos prefer light or part shade, especially from hot afternoon sun.

Wind. Bamboo is evergreen, so cold, drying winter wind can scorch leaves. A fence, wall or other plants on the windward side help, particularly for young plants.

Soil. Bamboo generally likes loamy, moisture-holding soil that is moderately acidic to neutral and rich in organic matter. Heavy clay can be improved with compost.

Drainage. Bamboo wants regular moisture but not standing water. Keep it away from ponds and spots that stay swampy. Some species tolerate seasonally wet ground, but most do poorly in soil that is saturated for long periods. If drainage is poor, a raised bed or a berm of improved soil gives roots a better start, or choose plants suited to soggy soil, such as ornamental grasses for wet areas.

Distance from structures. Leave room around the planting for maintenance access. A common nursery recommendation is 12 to 24 inches between the edge of the bamboo (or its barrier) and fences, buildings or paths, and more for running types.

How to plant bamboo outdoors

1. Plant at the right time. Spring is a safe choice in most climates, and early fall works in milder areas. In cold regions, plant early enough for the roots to settle in before winter. In very hot climates, avoid midsummer unless you can shade and water well.
2. Call before you dig. In the US, dial 811 before digging deep, and check where buried utilities run.
3. Dig a wide hole. Make it roughly 1.5 to 2 times as wide as the root mass, and about as deep as the root mass or a little more.
4. Mix compost into the backfill and a little into the base of the hole to help drainage and nutrients.
5. Set the plant level. The top of the root mass should sit level with the surrounding soil. Planting too deep is a common way to lose a bamboo.
6. Backfill, firm gently and water thoroughly.
7. Mulch. Spread 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch over and around the roots. Unlike many trees and shrubs, bamboo is generally fine with mulch near the canes.

If you plan to grow it in a pot instead, see growing bamboo in pots and containers.

Spacing

Spacing depends on how fast you want a screen, and on how large the species gets. As a rough guide from nursery advice:

• Dense screen: about 3 to 5 feet apart.
• Open grove: wider, such as 5 to 10 feet or more.
• Small clumpers: may be set closer, while large clumpers need much more room as they mature.

Planting closer fills in faster but can slow individual plants. For a screen specifically, planting a bamboo privacy screen goes through spacing, species and timelines in more detail.

Watering and feeding

New bamboo needs frequent, generous watering until its roots reach into the surrounding soil. A typical pattern is twice a week in mild weather and more often in hot or windy spells, soaking deeply rather than sprinkling daily. Dry soil in the first year is a leading cause of failure. Established plants cope with much less water, though they look better with regular summer watering, and bamboo that never gets water may spread out searching for it.

Bamboo is a heavy feeder, unlike most ornamental grasses, which need little fertilizer. A high-nitrogen fertiliser, similar to a lawn feed, applied two or three times a year during the growing season is common advice, as is a yearly layer of compost or aged manure. Wait a few months after planting before feeding a new plant, and follow the label rates.

Mulch and fallen leaves

Bamboo is a forest plant, and it does well under a layer of mulch. Leaving its own fallen leaves in place helps keep the soil soft and moist and returns nutrients. If the leaf litter looks untidy, a low shade-tolerant groundcover can let leaves fall through.

Pruning and thinning

Bamboo can be pruned without much risk. Cut canes just above a node, remove dead or weak ones at ground level, and thin older canes to keep the clump open. Note that a cane that has been cut will not grow taller from that point. The details are in how to prune and thin bamboo.

Winter care and tall plants

• Mulch heavily around young or marginal plants before winter.
• Water in dry spells. Well-watered bamboo generally copes better with cold.
• Stake or guy tall plants. Newly planted bamboo over about 15 feet may need support for the first year or until the roots anchor it.
• Expect some change. In colder zones, even evergreen species may lose some leaves or canes, and groundcover types may die back and shoot again in spring.

Normal leaf drop vs real problems

A mix of green, yellow and new leaves in spring is normal, because bamboo renews its foliage around shooting time, and some species also shed in fall. Widespread yellowing or browning at other times usually points to water, drainage, feeding or exposure. See why bamboo leaves turn yellow or brown and how to fix it.

Common mistakes

• Planting a running bamboo with no barrier or plan.
• Setting the plant too deep or leaving it dry in the first year.
• Choosing a species too tender for the zone.
• Planting right against a wall or fence with no maintenance gap.
• Forgetting that it fills in over several years, so spacing and final size matter.

Where to go next

• How fast it grows: how long it takes bamboo to grow 20 ft and does bamboo spread quickly?
• Containment: how to install a rhizome barrier and how to control and remove bamboo
• Roots: how deep bamboo roots grow
• Design ideas: bamboo garden design ideas and grasses that look like bamboo