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Ornamental Bamboos And Grasses |
Therefore, an artificial pool where there is little possibility of
overflowing is not only suitable but is to be preferred to ground
which is liable to be flooded at times. The tufted species can
also be used to great advantage for planting in beds at the edge
of the lawn, the grass making a most effective foreground,
especially where the lawn is on a slope. Where there are very
large rock gardens, bamboos provide a pleasing background.
Propagation should be carried out by the division of roots
from the end of April onwards and usually it is quite easy to
sever suitable portions from a clump while still retaining the
soil around the roots.
This should also be the endeavour should it ever be neces-
sary to move large clumps intact for transplanting to other
places. Both stem and root cuttings are additional means of
propagating a stock, while seed is sometimes available although
few species flower really regularly. In any case, attempting to
increase stock from seed is a chancy job. On the other hand,
a few species are monocarpic, and die as soon as they have
flowered. When this happens seed does usually set, and fall-
ing to the ground, develops into seedlings which arise to fill
the space left by the parent plants.
The nomenclature of the bamboos is somewhat unsettled,
some species once having been considered as belonging to a par-
ticular genus now being placed by botanists in a different one.
There are three chief generic names used for the bamboos,
these being arundinaria, phyllostachys and bambusa. The first
group produces long straight stems with a plentiful supply of
side branches while the second section has somewhat flattened
stems. There are very few species of bambusa and they are
often included with the arundinarias. Generally speaking, the
straight bamboos are not so hardy as the other types.
Among the most useful species which have for long been
known as bambusa and are suitable for smaller gardens or
where space is restricted, there are the following. B. putnila
from Japan, is a dwarf plant growing only between one and
two feet, its stems having a purplish tinge and producing nar-
row bright green leaves from two to five inches in length. A
neat-growing subject, this is an ideal species for the centre of a
bed or for the edge of a strip of woodland, while it is especially
pleasing seen near a small pond or pool. Rather taller grow-
ing, is B. fortune:', with thin stems and long slender leaves
usually striped with white, sometimes in fact, there appears to
be more white than green.
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