Bamboos (All evergreen)

Bamboo is hard to beat in the right spot. Although synonymous with the landscape of South-East Asia, our heads were first turned by this wonderful plant a little closer to home at Parco delle Terme, Montecatini, near the Grand Hotel, ‘Croce di Malta’. (The good wine there might have also mildly influenced our initial enthusiastic purchases). We first experimented at Nuthurst by planting bamboo in raised beds, creating an island effect where the bamboo did not spread beyond the raised border. Over time we removed the smaller canes, and the effect was that the plant developed much larger and impressive canes which we could then raise up by removing the lower foliage. Warning – bamboo barrier is needed.