Other Names:  Clumping Bamboo

Description:

A graceful, medium bamboo, perfectly suited for privacy screens; a tight clumper with green culms wrapped in pale pink sheaths that add beauty to the plant; an ideal landscape accent

Ornamental Features

Chocolate Bamboo is primarily valued in the landscape for its cascading habit of growth. Its attractive narrow compound leaves remain bluish-green in color throughout the year. The antique red stems are very colorful and add to the overall interest of the plant.

Landscape Attributes

Chocolate Bamboo is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with a shapely form and gracefully arching stalks. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Chocolate Bamboo is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Chocolate Bamboo will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Chocolate Bamboo is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.