Garden Designers & Landscape Gardeners
Garden Buildings in South & East England

Phyllostachys aureosulcata f. Spectabilis.
This is one of our favourite bamboos here at RGC for making a big effect. The emerging shoots (or culms as they are also known) can have a strong red colour which then turns to a clear gold as the shoot reaches its full height, with green stripes on alternate sides all the way up. As the shoot hardens off and develops its' side branches and leaves the culm darkens to a dull amber colour and the glossy leaves become its main attraction. Fully grown the height will be between 4 - 5m and the maximum thickness of the culms, about 30 - 35mm.
Photos courtesy of Noah Bell and Sweeash Nursery in Oregon USA, see their link on our resources page.

A dense clump forming bamboo

The density of the leaves on a healthy clump makes this species suitable for hedges and screening. It is also good for open exposed areas becuase of its hardiness and resilience in cold and dry winds. It makes a lush and deep glossy green clump that we recommend before any other bamboo for an open situation. A clump of Phyllostachys aureosulcata f. Spectabilis will stay fairly compact and in our gardens has not developed many 'runners'- spreading rhizomes, although it has been known to in other gardens. When it occasionally does this they are isolated enough and close enough to the surface to easily cut back to the clump with a sharp spade and lift.

Whilst the above description of this plants invasivness is a good general guide bamboo does respond differently to different soils, and growing conditions as briefly described below:

1. Where ground cover sheet is used and/or surface mulch close to a clump of bamboo the new shoots will run underneath it for considerable distances. Always leave a wide gap between your ground sheet and the clump of a minimum of 1m.

 2. Most bamboo will grow shoots in the direction of sunlight if it is growing in shade. This will occour to a lesser degree if it is in a generally shady area, but if there is deep shade over, or to one side of the clump, and strong sun coming from another direction, shoots will head for the light.

3. If the clump is growing in dry conditions and there is wet or moist ground nearby the shoots may grow towards the wetter ground, but boggy wet soil will check or stop the rhizome growth.

4. A clump growing in poor soil or surrounded by grass or compacted soil will spread less. If it is growing in a richly cultivated bed surrounded by poor soil or in an exposed position it is less likely to spread.   

From Young Plants To Mature Hedge

Use the pine in the foreground as a point of reference to see how this hedge matured in 5 years. Its' height and wide arching habit has been controlled by pruning so that it now forms a compact barrier, and is a micro climate provider between the hot spikey part of the garden and the dense jungle, see Carribean Home From Home.