Bamboo Landscaping Ideas

Bamboo Privacy Planters

• Have a bathroom window you'd like to give some privacy to without cutting off natural light? Have a close neighbor with a window peering straight into your yard? Use bamboo planters to create a spot privacy solution. Plant clumping bamboo in a large planter and place it right in front of the window you want to screen or block. The bamboo will spread in a dense thicket, creating an effective, natural screen, and the planter will stop it from spreading beyond the desired area. If you are growing tall bamboo, select a heavy planter such as a concrete one to prevent your bamboo from toppling.

Bamboo Hedge

• For an unconventional barrier, grow a row of natural bamboo instead of hedges or a fence. Enclose a rectangular area with landscape edging, and plant running bamboo in the enclosure. The bamboo will spread through the enclosure, but the edging will stop it from spreading further, forming a rectangular barrier. Alternately, place running bamboo in long, trough-shaped planters. If you have a river or creek, plant river cane or another water-loving type of bamboo along it to create a natural boundary.

Bamboo Gardening

• Bamboo has a wide variety of uses around the garden. Use bamboo canes as simple plant supports. Cut dried canes into short pieces and hang them from strings next to each other to make a bamboo wind chime. Use short sections of giant bamboo as natural plant pots. Use a row of short pieces of bamboo for a rustic, informal garden edging, or use low bamboo rails connected to vertical poles for a more formal garden barrier. Bamboo is also a good alternative to wood for fencing. Use walls of closely spaced bamboo poles for a privacy fence or decorative Japanese designs for a more open border.