BAMBOO FOR THE WINTER GARDEN

I'm just putting the finishing touches to my latest soil mates column for The Saturday Times Magazine this evening. On this occasion I'm talking about bamboo and the value of its stem colour in the winter garden... you can check out some of my previous articles at here

Talking of bamboo - I was round at a new clients house this week and they were complaining about how their bamboo spreads - and how much backache they get trying to dig it out. After giving them the number for my sports massage therapist - I explained that they could contain the spread of their bamboo by sinking a vertical barrier (in the form of old paving slabs or corrugated iron) around the bamboo.

Bamboo sends out runners to an average depth of 60cm, so this vertical barrier should contain further attempts to colonise the garden. Make sure you leave the barrier protruding a few centimetres above the surface or the clever runners will simply step over it!

When planting bamboo, I always like to use root barriers, which work just like a bottomless flowerpot to contain the runners. At £16.99 each, they are well worth the man hours saved digging out runaway bamboo...

For unusual bamboos that will whet your gardening appetite, check out Jungle Giants