Bamboo Screens and Hedges

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bamboo in landscape
Bamboo Screens and Hedges

With its beautiful evergreen foliage, bamboo is one of the most attractive plants to use for a hedge or screen. Since it is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, bamboo is a quick and inexpensive option for creating a privacy screen. The spreading or running forms of bamboo can be planted at fairly wide spacing to fill in within a couple of years. Bamboo can be purchased and planted that is already 10, 20 or even over 30 feet tall for an instant screen. Of course bamboo that is already 30 to 50 feet tall will be expensive, but the cost to install a 50 ft tall screen with any other plant would be astronomical.

There are many varieties of bamboo to choose from. Almost any bamboo that grows to the height that you wish can be used, although it is important to make sure that you have the correct growing conditions, i.e. sunlight exposure, cold hardiness, and heat and humidity tolerance. Most bamboos take a number of years (5-10) to reach maximum listed height, and some may never reach that height unless your growing conditions are ideal. Some are more upright than others, so be sure to read the description of the bamboo you plan to use. The following selections are plants we have found to be most useful for creating dense hedges and screens.

Dwarf hedges	Waist-high hedges	Screens and taller hedges	Very Tall screens	Screens using hardy clumping bamboos	Subtropical hedges for warmer climates
Pleioblastus distichus	Pleioblastus chino 'Vaginata variegata’	Hibanobambusa tranquillans ‘Shiroshima’	Phyllostachys bambusoides (most forms)	Chusquea culeou	Bambusa multiplex ‘Alphonse Karr’
Pleioblastus pygmaeus	Indocalamus latifolius	Phyllostachys aurea (all forms)	P. dulcis	Fargesia dracocephala	B. multiplex ‘Riviereorum’
Pleioblastus fortunei	Sasa kurilensis	P. aureosulcata (all forms)	P. edulis "Moso"	F. murielae	B. multiplex ‘Silver Stripe’
Pleioblastus viridistriatus	Sasa tsuboiana	P. bissetii	P. iridescens	F. nitida (all forms)	B. ventricosa
Sasaella ramosa	Shibataea chinensis	P. heteroclada	P. nigra 'Bory'	F. robusta	Bambusa ventricosa 'Kimmei'
Sasaella masamuneana ‘Albovariegata’	Shibataea kumasaca	Phyllostachys decora	P. nigra 'Henon'	Fargesia rufa	Otatea accuminata ‘Aztecorum’
		Pseudosasa japonica	P. nigra 'Megurochiku'	Fargesia sp. 'Jiuzhaigou'
		Bashania fargesii	P. nuda	Thamnocalamus tessellatus
		Sasa palmata	P. viridis 'Robert Young'
		Semiarundinaria fastuosa	P. vivax
		Semiarundinaria fastuosa 'Viridis'	P. vivax 'Aureocaulis'
		Pleioblastus linearis	P. vivax 'Huangwenzhu'
		Pleioblastus gramineus	P. vivax 'Huangwenzhu Inversa'

Many of the bamboo mentioned above have spreading rhizomes, so it is important to focus the direction of the spreading rhizomes with barrier. This will result in dense hedges and screens.

The main advantage of hardy clumping bamboo is that they do not require a barrier. None will exceed 15 feet and all require afternoon shade. However, they are far slower to fill in and produce a denser mass of culms and foliage than the vigorous spreading bamboos.

Sound barriers using bamboo screens

Bamboo can create superb sound barriers, drowning out noisy streets, schools and noisy neighbors, but remember, the screen must be dense and at least 3 to 8 feet wide, depending on the cause of the noise.

Bamboo for windbreaks

Many people are drawn to bamboo for a barrier against wind. True, bamboo can be very good at this, but it is imperative to select the best species for that given location. There are different types of wind, such as drying, salt-laden, and cold, wintry winds. In the Pacific Northwest, the most effective bamboos are Pseudosasa japonica, Semiarundinaria fastuosa and Pleioblastus simonii. We are increasingly convinced that Phyllostachys decora would prove ideal as a drought, heat and cold-tolerant windbreak that is required to be erect.

The best Clumping Bamboo for wind tolerance by far is the Thamnocalamus tesselatus

To be certain that you are selecting the bamboo most suited to your needs and climate, please email us bamboo@bamboogarden or call us at (503) 647-2700.