BAMBOOS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 183, 1 May 1936, Page 18

BAMBOOS

An Asset in Winter Groups of bamboos are a valuable asset to any garden, especially during winter, when the beauty of their green foliage is a .constant pleasure. Bamboos are perfectly hardy in most parts of New Zealand. They should be planted in loamy sou that is moist without being wet; when young, until well started into growth, they benefit by a yearly dressing of leafmould and manure. Once they are established in a suitable situation they increase quickly and will, in a few years’ time, make good stout plants. They increase by sucker roots which run just under the ground, and send up strong sturdy shoots which become good canes, enlarging rapidly the girth of the plant. Bamboos make splendid groups in a garden, the groups sheltering rare and delicate plants and shrubs. They form excellent screens, to hide an uglj building, wall or outhouse. When well grown their canes are in constant requisition for garden use; when the canes are cut they should be cut right to the base of the plant, not half-way down, as this injures both plant and appearance. When bamboos are planted they should be watered freely, and if during their first summer they become dry, they should be kept moist or given a muich of damp leaf-mould, until they are established. The best time to plant is from May to July. Bamboos are increased by division. Sometimes, when a plant has been divided up the newly-planted pieces will appear/ dead for many months, and when one has given up hope of their recovering, they start unexpectedly into leaf, either at the base ai tbe plant or the top of a dead-looking cane.