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Planting a Bamboo

Think carefully about location and what bamboo you select. Bamboo grow and can fill up a space more than you may realize. Check for overhead wires. Avoid planting close to a building. Wear goggles or glasses to avoid getting poked in the eye by a small branch. For a screening bamboo I recommend planting about five to seven feet apart. If a screen is needed quickly plant the bamboo three or four feet apart. If the bamboo will not be planted immediately store in semi­shade and water frequently. Our running bamboo tolerate extreme cold weather, below zero. Most of our clumping bamboo are just fine with temperatures down to 15 degree Fahrenheit.

Soak the bamboo in the pot for fifteen minutes prior to planting. Add a small handful of some fertilizer in the soak water. A basic 10 10 10 fertilizer would work well or Miracle Grow. When taking a bamboo out of the pot you may notice a thick mat of circling roots. Loosen these up or even cut them so as to encourage the roots to grow outward into your large excellent planting hole.

Good Soil Method If the location has decent soil then dig a planting hole at least twice times the width of the container in came in and twice as deep. What you are doing is creating a large container in the ground minus the plastic pot. Plant the bamboo with one forty pound bag of composted cow manure or the like, plus fertilizer. Mix the ingredients and some of the existing soil together with a shovel or fork. Plant the bamboo at the same level as it was in the pot. Step the soil down around the plant then water in deeply. Shape a rim around the hole to hold water. Mulch the dug up area with pine bark, leaves, pine straw or a similar material. Water twice a week for three months unless you have sufficient rain.

Poor Soil Method Chances are your soil is sandy so you need to do more. Again create a large hole. Bigger is better and will definitely yield faster growth and a quicker screen. The hole should be three times as wide as the pot and twice as deep. If tree roots are encountered no need to prune them away. Dig around and under when possible. The hole doesn't have to look pretty or circular. Put in the hole a 25 pound bag of kitty liter, four(4) forty(40) pound bags of composted cow manure or a similar organic product and several handfuls of slow release fertilizer. Mix every thing together. Mix in some of your existing soil. Plant the bamboo, step the soil down around the plant to firm it up and water in deeply. What I mean by that is place a sprinkler close to the bamboo and let it run for at least 30 minutes. Irrigation systems seldom provide a newly planted bamboo sufficient water for maximum growth. The inexpensive round plastic sprinkler heads work well in watering your plant. Adjust the water pressure so the circle of water only hits the area close to where it was planted.

Substitution of these materials is fine but remember to greatly over do it. Use your existing compose pile, horse, cow or other manure is just as good if readily available. Ground up yard debris at most Florida land fills is largely decomposed and good to use. Grass clipping are terrific. Used kitty liter has built in fertilizer. I myself would then were gloves when handling. Peat moss, soil moist crystals, decomposed bark, other wood chips could all be used. Grass clippings are a form of slow release fertilizer.