Green Panda Bamboo Growing Tips

Green Panda bamboo is a hardy evergreen plant that can be grown as a single accent in a feature garden or in masses as a living privacy shrub.  This fast-growing plant will grow six to ten feet in height with a similar spread in USDA zone 5 through 9.  Bamboo is easy to grow indoors in a container or outdoors in the ground.

When I moved to our home in the central states I was lucky because this home had a mature green panda bamboo growing directly next to our entrance. The bamboo was mature and the culms (plant stems) had grown to the height of 10 feet.  The bamboo provided privacy to our dining room window, we could see out through the leaves and found that the plant kept the room shaded and thus it was cooler during the summer months.  The green panda bamboo with its exotic green foliage provides interest to our landscape and shade.

Growing Bamboo

Bamboo has a fast growth rate and grows very well in sun to shade.  It is best to plant in a location where it is protected from the hot afternoon sun.  Also if you have bitter cold winders with ice consider planting next to a privacy fence or foundation.  The culms will weaken under the weight of heavy snow.   

The bamboo will stay evergreen and keep it’s leaves throughout the winter unless the temperatures dip to the single digits.  

 My bamboo lost its leaves when the winter was bitter cold, temperatures -7 for a week.  We did not cut back the bare culms in the spring.  The leaves slowly grew back and by summer the bamboo was healthy again.








Growing and Caring for Bamboo
Choose a planting site where this evergreen will have ample room. In the spring the bamboo produces new growth and these shoots will fill in quickly.  Within a few years, the bamboo will enhance your landscape with a living privacy screen.

This past spring I transplanted six shoots.  I dug up the runner and transplanted in soil that was mixed with compost.  I covered the runner with 4 inches of soil and firmed the soil around the base of the shoot.  I applied mulch and watered well.  When the bamboo was planted I fertilized with Spray-N-Grow liquid fertilizer. I mixed with water and fed the bamboo once a week and in no time the leaves on the stems had filled in and it had tripled in size.  

It is important to keep the soil evenly moist throughout the summer months.  Mature bamboo is semi drought-resistant but a new plant needs water.  It is helpful to set up a soaking hose and water daily in the morning.  Deepwater to the roots is better than a light sprinkle.


Growing tips for Green Panda Bamboo

1. Green panda bamboo can be grown indoors in a container or outdoors
2. Trim in the fall to any height that you prefer.
3. Bamboo is cold hardy, drought-tolerant and considered a low maintenance plant
4. The Green Panda bamboo is a clumping bamboo that has a non-invasive root system.
5. Bamboo will make your yard and garden more interesting..  Bamboo has a graceful movement and would add interest to a sensory garden. Grow next to a pond or water feature and your garden will be very relaxing.