Choosing the Best Bamboo Seeds for Your Particular Needs and Requirements

How do I choose the best bamboo seeds for my location, conditions, and limitations?

This can be a rather complex and challenging question for us to answer on your behalf, because each individual has their own specific needs and requirements based on a number of highly regional and personal factors. These might include your available space, geographic region/climate, height preferences/restrictions, proximity to neighbors, horticultural expertise, budget, importance of visual appeal vs privacy vs windbreak vs natural fencing, maintenance capabilities, regional soils and water availability – you get the idea.

It's best if you develop a general guideline with which you can informatively and successfully select bamboo seeds that will flourish long-term in your growing environment, and that are a good match for what you want and need.

Here are some of the most important elements for consideration when you buy bamboo seeds:

1. Know your USDA cold hardiness zone. This tells you which plants are best suited for your geographic location, based on the plant's hardiness rating and your average low Winter temperatures. For example, if you live in northern Michigan, then tropical bamboo seeds aren’t at all suitable for you because tropical bamboo won't survive extended subfreezing outdoor temperatures.

2. Determine the minimum and maximum mature heights of the bamboo you are considering. (You'll find this information in the bulleted list at the top of most  bamboo seed product listings or in the descriptive content.) If you desire privacy from nearby ground-level windows of an adjacent neighbor, then consider medium height Fargesia or other bamboo varieties with moderate height at maturity. Try to match the mature height and width of a particular bamboo to adequately block the view of potential observers. Also consider if a bamboo is considered dense clumping with foliage from bottom to top, or if it tends to lose foliage -- and privacy screening -- close to ground level as it matures.

3. Google is your friend. Do some Google image searches to visualize how a particular variety of bamboo will mature vertically and horizontally. If you select an unsuitable variety that will require a lot of shaping and pruning to keep it within your preferences and restrictions, then evaluate if you’re up for the demands of that ongoing maintenance and the potentially unnatural appearance of significant pruning and shaping. 

4. Know your regional conditions. This includes the potential for Winter freeze, frost, snow or ice; soil types, depth, and potential amendment requirements ; water availability and chemical composition; seasonally characteristic wind speeds and patterns; availability of direct sunlight vs shade year round; whether you're planting parallel or perpendicular to the sun's movement from dawn to dusk, etc. The selection, placement, and planting of any long-term landscaping element -- not just bamboo  -- is dependent on many different factors that are specific to your location, such as plant hardiness zone, climate, soil, water, elevation, topography, existing plantings/structural elements, and more.

Consider all of the varietal characteristics of bamboo just as you would when selecting for any landscaping goal. In other words, don’t select a high mountain elevation, temperate loving, low height Fargesia to help shade your 2-story home in tropical USDA Zone 10 coastal Florida.

5. Understand the differences between non-invasive “clumping” bamboo varieties, and more aggressively expanding “running” bamboo and choose accordingly based on the limitations and requirements of your proposed planting location. While impressively fast growing and useful for quickly establishing impressive windbreaks, hedgerows, and groves, running bamboo requires more containment and maintenance than non-spreading clumping bamboo. Running bamboo varieties must be contained within a barrier to prevent the underground rhizomes from expanding into areas where you, or your neighbors, don't want it to grow.  On the other hand, non-invasive clumping varieties of bamboo mature in place, filling out over time with minimal, self-limiting outward expansion. 

A general rule of thumb when planting running bamboo is to provide a minimum of 10' on all sides of the rhizome containment barrier to ensure that you can either mow over any new shoots emerging beyond the barrier or readily access and sever any rhizomes that have managed to grow under, through, or over the barrier. Concrete, asphalt, wood, and other "solid" surface materials do not prevent running bamboo rhizomes from extending beneath the ground surface and eventually emerging where they were not originally intended to grow. 

Like countless other plant and grass species, running bamboo only becomes invasive when it is allowed to do so. There are many reasons why running bamboo varieties are a popular choice for gardens, landscapes, and more expansive acreage, and they endure as a welcome and beneficial addition when responsibly maintained and contained. 

6. Decide if your bamboo will be grown indoors or outside, and choose bamboo seeds with appropriate cold hardiness ratings. (You'll find the cold hardy rating in the bulleted list at the top of each product page.) You'll have a much wider selection from which to choose if you're growing bamboo in containers indoors, because you'll not have concerns about cold hardiness or running vs clumping growth. However, most bamboo requires some humidity for optimal growth, and the typical indoor space provides lower humidity than may be required for optimal bamboo maintenance and growth.

7. Determine how a particular bamboo variety will complement or compete with existing plantings. Accommodate the optimal growing conditions for pre-existing plantings. For example, if your landscaping already primarily features sun-loving tropical plants and flowers, it would be ill-advised to select tall bamboo with dense foliage at height that might eventually leave those sun-dependent plants under a year-round evergreen canopy of shade. 

8. Understand that while most bamboo is relatively low maintenance, that doesn’t mean it’s no maintenance. If you’re not up for the potential chores of occasional pruning, raking, fertilizing, summertime watering, and mulching for winter, then perhaps bamboo isn’t the most appropriate landscaping feature for you.

9. When looking at cold hardy bamboo seeds, take into consideration the fact that you most likely can consider a bamboo variety with a minimum cold hardiness rating that is one-half (ie, from “8” to “7b”) or a full level (ie, from “8” to “7”) below your regional rating, IF you winterize your bamboo, or move containerized bamboo indoors, or if you intend to plant your bamboo in a spot providing protection from harsh winds and extreme temperatures.

If you can live with minor damage from Winter freeze and frost, that will likely regenerate and repair with new growth during the warmer growing season, you might be able to push the boundaries of your assigned hardiness zone even further.

Most bamboo is remarkably adaptable and resilient barring prolonged exposure to overly extreme conditions. It is not uncommon for some evergreen bamboo to dieback to ground during overly challenging winter conditions in zones generally considered inhospitable to that particular variety, only to vigorously bounce back and re-emerge come Spring with new and bigger growth.

10. It can also be challenging to successfully maintain bamboo outdoors in regional temperatures that exceed the bamboo’s maximum recommended temperature range for extended periods. This will likely require protective  supplemental watering, ample mid-day shade, and protection from hot seasonal winds that can be stressful for all plants and trees in warmer climates.

We continually add to this information over time as our customers ask all the best questions. While we try to be helpful and responsive to email inquiries, please understand that we typically refer questions specific to an individual's unique environmental conditions and requirements to this page and our other "FAQ"  resource pages for the ease, convenience, and informed education of our valued customers.