Bamboo hedge: which varieties to choose?
For tall or low hedges, green all year round
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Looking for an evergreen, dense, low-maintenance hedge capable of growing quickly, that resists frost (down to -20°C on average) and wind and effectively preserves your privacy: bamboos are ideal candidates!
Whether single-species or mixed, a bamboo hedge is ideal for sheltering from wind, screening prying eyes but also from noise.
Their extremely rapid growth makes it possible to create in just a few years a dense green screen that remains attractive all year round. Their foliage and architectural canes give both large and small gardens a particularly exotic, eye-catching and structural look.
Choosing a bamboo depends on the effect you want and on the space you have. Discover among our collections of running or non-running (cespitose) bamboos which are the best varieties for creating a low or tall hedge in your garden.
Running or non-running bamboo (cespitose)
Bamboos are classified into two categories :
- running bamboos, whose rootstocks run and often spread vigorously if not contained by a rootstock barrier ;
- non-running or cespitose bamboos, which grow more slowly and do not need to be contained because they stay neatly in place.
Growth rate and maximum height of bamboos are nevertheless conditioned by soil quality and moisture level. They will therefore vary in height and speed of growth depending on region: they prefer warm, humid climates and fertile, light soils.
Choice is simple: it depends on available space, impatience to see hedge grow quickly and desired effect.
To compose attractive hedges quickly, favour Phyllostachys. Aggressively running, they offer imposing dimensions and rapid, vigorous growth. They can reach 5 metres in just a few years. Installing a rootstock barrier at planting is essential to channel their rootstocks. They need plenty of space and are best placed in a free-standing hedge where they can spread. They reach up to 8 metres tall and give garden, with their colourful, very straight culms, a distinctly architectural habit.
Semiarundinaria fastuosa var. viridis
- Height at maturity 6 m
For small spaces or simply if you fear the invasive character of bamboos, plant cespitose bamboos. Non-invasive, they take a little longer to fill out than running varieties (allow around 5 years to obtain a dense foliage). Rootstock barrier is optional for this type of bamboo. They also allow filling an accidental gap in a hedge without risk of uncontrolled spread.
Fargesia murielae Panda
- Height at maturity 3 m
Fargesia nitida Jiu - Non-running Bamboo
- Height at maturity 2,50 m
Why choose? In a hedge you can mix running and cespitose bamboos, so do not deprive yourself of their diversity! That way, culms of different ages, showing varied colours and textures, will mingle within the hedge, creating a harmonious whole.
For a tall hedge
A bamboo hedge provides refreshing shade in summer and attenuates gusts of wind in winter.
Lower than a green screen, it forms in 2-3 years a dense, homogeneous vegetative windbreak. It grows by at least 1 m every year. Once well established, it requires only an annual maintenance pruning.
For privacy screens or windbreaks, and green screens effective at attenuating sound, favour running bamboos with very rapid growth. Less running or non-running bamboos are also suitable but will establish more slowly.
Medium bamboos (3 to 9 m high) are particularly well suited such as Semiarundinaria fastuosa, Fargesia robusta or Phyllostachys humilis, which is one of the smallest bamboos in the genus Phyllostachys. They will be much easier to contain with annual pruning than giant bamboos.
You can also vary heights by placing one or two shorter bamboo hedges in front, a way to hide a somewhat bare base.
The diversity of foliage, colours and shapes of culms, as well as heights of different bamboo varieties, offer multiple possibilities to create a unique hedge.
Our favourites
Phyllostachys bissetii - Bamboo
- Height at maturity 6 m
Phyllostachys aureosulcata Spectabilis - Bamboo
- Height at maturity 7,50 m
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For a low hedge
With an often rapid growth rate, bamboo makes it possible to create lovely small, low-maintenance hedges to partition or define garden areas.
To form a low hedge (about 50 cm to 1 m tall), favour the dwarf bamboos or small varieties. Their dense foliage and bushy, sometimes weeping, habit are ideal.
For these small-growing bamboos, it is the luxuriance of the foliage that prevails: its abundance often hides the thin culms.
Although all bamboos tolerate pruning well, dwarf bamboos accept drastic pruning, and this is even necessary for their good growth. They can even be trained as topiary.
Which are our favourite bamboos for low hedges among our wide range of dwarf bamboos, selected as much for their compact habit as for their exotic look?
Our favourites
Depending on the colour of the culms
Lime green, golden yellow, ebony black, bicoloured or even steel blue, Bamboos are also chosen for their graphic, colourful canes. Smooth or sinuate, they take on different appearances depending on variety. Some culms adopt a distinctive zigzag shape.
Our favourites
Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda Macrophylla
- Height at maturity 4 m
Phyllostachys bambusoides Castillonii Inversa - Giant Bamboo
- Height at maturity 10 m
Yellow Bamboo - Phyllostachys aureosulcata Aureocaulis
- Height at maturity 6 m
Fargesia papyrifera Blue Dragon - Non-running bamboo
- Height at maturity 6 m
Depending on the beauty of the foliage
Light, generous, evergreen bamboo foliage, rustling at the slightest breeze, can be admired all year round. In some varieties (Sasa veitchii) leaves become marginate with cream from the first frosts.
Our favourites
Pseudosasa japonica - Metake Bamboo
- Height at maturity 4 m
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