Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens

by E. T. Cook

CHAPTER XXVII

HARDY BAMBOOS

Thanks to Lord Redesdale (author of "The Bamboo Garden"), and a few other gardening enthusiasts, the Bamboo has been made a beautiful feature of many English gardens. Although a graceful shrubby grass of quite tropical aspect, the majority of species and their varieties are thoroughly hardy, so much so that they have passed safely through the severest winters of the past twenty years. Bamboos and hybrid Water Lilies are responsible for much of the interest taken in good English gardening at the present time. Their introduction has marked a distinct era, and their popularity is wide-spread, while in the near future we shall regard the Bamboo much as we do the most common of shrubs now planted. Arundinaria japonica (B. Metake) is, of course, an old favourite, and it is surprising that this stately species did not before remind English gardeners of the great possibilities of the Bamboos in the adornment of the pleasure-ground. As Mr. Bean says: "Fifteen or twenty years ago many of the best of the sorts now largely grown were unknown in this country; but apart from their novelty they have other qualities. No evergreens capable of withstanding our winters exceed these shrubby grasses in beauty and grace, in luxuriance of leafage, or in their bright, fresh, green tints in winter. Very few, indeed, equal them."

GROUPING OF YUCCAS, PAMPAS GRASS, AND BAMBOOS, KEW (Winter).

Although fifty species and varieties of this lovely family are now grown, only about twenty need be thought of, because many of them from the ornamental point of view are valueless in the English garden. The hardy Bamboos belong to three groups or genera—Phyllostachys, Arundinaria, and Bambusa—and it is well to thoroughly understand these divisions. We hope those trade growers who still group everything as Bambusa will follow the now accepted classification. The following have proved the most hardy and beautiful in the Bamboo garden at Kew: Phyllostachys Henonis, P. fastuosa, P. viridi-glaucescens, P. flexuosa, P. nigra, P. boryana, P. sulphurea, P. Marliacea, P. ruscifolia, P. Castillonis, Arundinaria nitida, A. japonica, A. auricoma, A. Simoni, A. Fortunei, A. anceps, A. Hindsii var. graminea, Bambusa palmata, B. tessellata, and B. marmorea.

BAMBOO GARDEN AT KEW, WINTER

(In centre, Bambusa palmata; left, Phyllostachys Quilioi; right, Bambusa tessellata).]

In selecting a place for the Bamboo colony, think well of position. Shelter from north and east is essential. Luxuriant leafy stems are only possible when the plants are screened from winds in these quarters, indeed from all winds. Cold north and east winds are more harmful than severe frost, and this applies to all the tender evergreens. A moist and rich soil is also important. Without it luxuriant growth is impossible, and a Bamboo that is not leafy, that does not bend its tall, graceful stems to the breeze and make willowy shoots yards high, when it is natural for it so to do, is not beautiful: the garden is more interesting without it. Many of the species spread rapidly by underground stems, and for this reason must never be planted without careful thought. Each plant should tell its own tale, and not suffer partial extinction through a choke-muddle arrangement that makes a bank of leafage perhaps, but in which all individual beauty is hopelessly lost. Some Bamboos, like Phyllostachys viridi-glaucescens and P. Henonis, need ample space for full development. Transplant always in late spring, never in winter and early spring. When bamboos were first grown in this country on a large scale many deaths occurred through transplanting in winter.