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Gardening
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Great Design Plant: Alphonse Karr Bamboo
Bamboo gets a bad rap in the garden, but this clumping variety creates an exotic landscape look with less aggressiveness
Bamboo grows like a weed, is sustenance for pandas and deserves to be considered for a spot in your garden. It receives negative reviews because it can easily dominate a landscape by elbowing out anything and everything that gets in its way. While this is the case for some species of the plant, bamboo in reality can prove to be one of the most versatile and applicable landscape design plants.
Alphonse Karr Bamboo (Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr') is one such bamboo. A clumping variety, Alphonse Karr creates privacy in the garden, serves as a living and textural alternative to a fence and will pretty quickly fill any planter. With the proper maintenance and precautions, your backyard can become a personal and private sanctuary with the assistance of this exotic grass.
More great design plants
Alphonse Karr Bamboo (Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr') is one such bamboo. A clumping variety, Alphonse Karr creates privacy in the garden, serves as a living and textural alternative to a fence and will pretty quickly fill any planter. With the proper maintenance and precautions, your backyard can become a personal and private sanctuary with the assistance of this exotic grass.
More great design plants
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| Botanical name: Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' Common names: Alphonse Karr Bamboo USDA zones: 8 to 10 Water requirement: Regular until established Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Mature size: 15 to 35 feet tall (10 to 12 feet tall as a container plant) Tolerances and environmental benefits: Deer resistant; tolerates wind and coastal conditions; can grow in containers |
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| Distinguishing traits. An evergreen grass, Alphonse Karr Bamboo has golden irregularly striped canes reaching an inch diameter. New foliage shoots out with a pinkish hue. Canes exposed to direct sun often take on a magenta tinge. Clean canes grow to heights of 20 or 30 feet tall and can be kept at 12 to 20 feet tall when trained as a hedge or grown in a container. |
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| Alphonse Karr Bamboo is a clumping bamboo, making it much more manageable and less invasive in the garden. Running bamboo, on the other hand, sends its rhizomes in many directions before sending up new shoots. It can easily take over the garden and needs to be physically contained. While clumping bamboo is slower growing than the running varieties, you will still get an attractive and fully filled-in screen within a few years. |
| How to use it. Use bamboo as a screen to create privacy in your landscape or as a living fence to divide space. Alphonse Karr makes for a great windbreak, and its tolerance of coastal conditions will protect your garden and make dining al fresco that much more enjoyable in the summer — just don’t opt for this species if maintaining a pristine view is on your list of priorities. Landscape architect Joseph Huettl recommends this species of bamboo for both its use as a screen as well as its visual interest. Alphonse Karr Bamboo grows well in containers. Containers keep the size down and allow for you to use it on a patio or even in a well-lit indoor space. |
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| Planting notes. Spring is a great time to plant your bamboo — water well to establish a solid root system before the plant feels the heat of summer or winter's frost. Plant several feet apart and the plants will fill out. While this is a clumping bamboo, landscape architect Jude Hellewell still suggests using a physical root barrier in case you are planting close to a building or neighbor's property. Once it's established, you can reduce the watering schedule. Alphonse Karr is hardy to around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you go much lower in temperature, foliage burns or canes die back. This is a particular bamboo that branches from the base to the top, so trimming branches near the base of the plants will maintain a clean and clear pathway. More great design plants: Agave parryi | Euphorbia | Red-Leafed Mukdenia | Blue Chalk Sticks | Hens-and-Chicks | Redtwig Dogwood | Toyon Great design trees: Australian Tea Tree | Dove Tree | Bald Cypress | Chinese Witch Hazel | Japanese Maple | Manzanita | Persian Ironwood | Smoke Tree | Texas Mountain Laurel | Tree Aloe Great design flowers: Ornamental Allium | Canna Lily | Catmint | Golden Creeping Jenny | Pacific Coast Iris | Plumbago | Red Kangaroo Paw | Sally Holmes Rose | Slipper Plant | Snake Flower Great design grasses: Black Mondo Grass | Cape Rush | Feather Reed Grass | New Zealand Wind Grass |
Ideabook published on May 21, 2012.
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Bamboo is a quick growing plant that has a tendency to get everywhere, but with proper maintenance and precaution you can definitely tackle it. Again, clumping varieties are much more manageable and just as attractive as the running types. Your garden, your neighbors and your house will thank you.
There's nothing more Zen than the sound of the wind blowing through a bamboo grove!
9" in depth and about 20' in length. I have a concrete patio and the boo will be between the patio along the fence.