Look at the list of different Types of Bamboos to Grow in Containers and Gardens that can uplift any location.
Many gardeners love to grow bamboo plants for their striking beauty and features. You will read here about the fastest-growing bamboo to adorn the pots and gardens of your home.
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Types of Bamboos to Grow in Containers and Gardens
1. Hedge Bamboo
Botanical Name: Bambusa multiplex
This is a clumping ‘dwarf bamboo’ with upright branches and brownish-green clump leaves. It can grow up to 10-20 feet tall, making it perfect for children’s gardens or hedges.
Also, if you want to grow it, you can propagate it with the help of using clum in a stem cutting. It needs high organic matter soil with good drainage and 6 hours of direct sunlight.
2. Dwarf Green Stripe Bamboo
Botanical Name: Pleioblastus viridistriatus ‘Dwarf Green Stripe’
Dwarf Green Stripe Bamboo is an ornamental variety that makes a great ground cover. It has golden/yellow with green stripes foliage when young, fades in summer and becomes green with dark green strips.
This bamboo can reach up to 7 inches, and you must plant it in semi-shaded locations!
3. Green-Glaucous Bamboo
Botanical Name: Phyllostachys viridiglaucescens
The Green Glaucous is one of the fastest-growing bamboo, which helps it create a grove-like plantation for privacy around the house or garden. It is best known for its canes, which emerge with a deep emerald green hue and, with time, finally mature into yellowish-green.
The canes of these bamboos are fully striped and white along with the nodes, and their foliage is medium, elongated, and wide.
4. Chilean Bamboo
Botanical Name: Chusquea culeou
Are you looking for bamboos to grow in containers and gardens? Chilean Bamboo grows in Argentina, Valdivia, Chile, and other parts of South America.
Chilean bamboo withstands frost and thrives in temperate areas. Its flowers are light brownish, and the plant blooms for up to 60 years.
5. Buddha Bamboo
Botanical Name: Bambusa vulgaris ‘wamin’
Buddha bamboo is adorned for its quirky growing bulging internodes that dwarf its stature, giving it a distinct appearance reminiscent of a Buddha’s belly.
This ornamental bamboo cultivar thrives indoors and out, adapting well from full sun to full shade, and is resilient.
Note: You should note that when this plant bulges, it should be kept without excess fertilizer in completely dry soil.
6. Umbrella Bamboo
Botanical Name: Fargesia murieliae
Are you wondering how tall bamboo grows? Umbrella bamboo grows around 10 to 14 feet in height. It is a hardy plant that can easily be maintained in pots.
Also, it offers a canopy with its evergreen foliage, which is light blue initially and becomes yellowish-green on maturity.
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7. Temple Bamboo
Botanical Name: Semiarundinaria fastuosa ‘Temple Bamboo’
Temple Bamboo grows well in confined spaces like containers, making it ideal for patios and small yards. Its tall, erect stems with lush green leaves create an elegant and serene atmosphere.
Taking care of it is quite easy, though. For optimal growth, it only needs well-draining soil and moderate watering.
8. Giant Bamboo
Botanical Name: Dendrocalamus giganteus
This bamboo, also known as dragon bamboo, is a huge subtropical species from Southeast Asia. It has dense clumps around 40-50 feet wide and grows 12 inches per day.
This is one of the low-maintenance bamboo for growing in containers and gardens. It only needs full sun and rich, moist, well-draining soil.
9. Japanese Arrow Bamboo
Botanical Name: Pseudosasa japonica
Japanese Arrow Bamboo, often called green onion bamboo, is a robust, evergreen plant native to Japan and Korea.
Its vigorous growth and ability to spread via wide-creeping rhizomes often form dense thickets, making it ideal for a natural screen or hedge in landscapes.
10. Female Bamboo
Botanical Name: Bambusa balcooa
This versatile bamboo species stands out with its impressive height of 16-25 meters and diameter of 7-15 cm. Its grayish-green culms are thick-walled and feature distinct nodes with whitish rings and soft hairs.
These characteristics make it a preferred material for building robust structures like houses and bridges and crafting items like fishing floats and woven mats.
11. Black Bamboo
Botanical Name: Phyllostachys nigra
Black bamboo is a relatively fast-growing bamboo that can become invasive. Its canes are olive green when young and later become mottled brown-black, which turns jet black after 2-3 years, just like the picture above!
The plant can work well as a privacy hedge, as once it’s established, the species is very hard to eradicate.
12. Golden Bamboo
Botanical Name: Phyllostachys aurea
Golden bamboo is the most common bamboo in the United States. Its lance-shaped foilage yellowish-green cane makes it the fastest-growing plant (20 feet). It is planted to create noise barriers or living privacy.
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13. Guadua Bamboo
Guadua Bamboo, also known as “vegetal steel,” originates from South America and is the third-largest bamboo globally, with the most significant presence in America.
It boasts exceptional strength, surpassing many traditional timbers, and is prized for its durability, flexibility, and lightweight properties.
14. Albostriata Bamboo
Botanical Name: Sasaella masamuneana ‘Albostriata’
Albostriata bamboo’s beautiful foliage, which is green in summer and variegated in spring, creates a captivating contrast wherever it is planted. Its growing zone is 7a-11, and its compact size allows it to fit well in smaller spaces.
15. River Cane Bamboo
Botanical Name: Arundinaria gigantea
River cane bamboo forms dense canebrakes that are vital to specialized butterflies and moths. Despite its ecological importance, it is threatened by overgrazing and habitat loss.
Note: Due to its high flammability, it is advisable to avoid planting this bamboo near homes, opting instead for less flammable plants to reduce fire risks.
16. Asian Lemon Bamboo
Botanical Name: Bambusa eutuldoides viridi-vittata
Asian Lemon Bamboo is a clumping bamboo that works well as a striking container plant or privacy screen.
This hardy variety thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11 and can reach up to 25 feet in height. It exhibits a high tolerance for cold, surviving temperatures down to the upper 20°F.
17. Fountain Bamboo
Botanical Name: Fargesia nitida
Fountain Bamboo is particularly used as a screen or windbreak because its stems sometimes appear in a weeping form, as its common name suggests.
It can easily withstand cold, but tolerating summer temperatures is quite hard. Plant it in partial shade with well-draining soil.
18. Burmese Bamboo
Botanical Name: Bambusa polymorpha
Burmese bamboo is a small to medium-sized bamboo whose foliage changes color. Typically, in the young phase, its canes are light green or whitish grey and later turn grey-green.
It is used in house construction, handicrafts, and baskets. The shoots are sweet in taste and safe to eat. You must plant this graceful species in your landscape.
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19. Crookstem Bamboo
Botanical Name: Phyllostachys aureosulcata var. ‘Alata’
Crookstem bamboo adds a unique flair to gardens with its occasional zig-zag patterns on some of its stems.
It’s one of the hardiest bamboos, thriving in USDA Zones 5 to 10, and can reach heights of 25 to 30 feet.
20. Variegated Bamboo
Botanical Name: Pleioblastus fortunei ‘Tsuboi’
This unique bamboo, also known as dwarf white-striped bamboo, has a white stripe on each leaf center. It spreads very quickly and will soon fill your space, making it perfect for container planting and hedges.
This variegated bamboo can reach up to 2-4 feet tall under its preferred climatic conditions with USDA zones 4-10.
21. Green Panda Bamboo
Botanical Name: Fargesia dracocephala sp. ‘Rufa’ var. ‘Green Panda’
The Green Panda is a non-invasive bamboo plant with a vase-like structure and arching stems. It can reach upto 6-10 feet tall.
Also, it can not tolerate hot or humid conditions, so it must be planted in an area that receives full sun along with some afternoon shade. Paved areas or containers are perfect!
22. Showy Yellow Grove Bamboo
Botanical Name: Phyllostachys aureosulcata f. spectabilis
Yellow Grove Bamboo is a tall, upright-growing bamboo. It is adorned with its yellow cane and green panel in the sulcus.
Additionally, it can reach 15-25 feet, making it ideal for adding to gardens or containers.
23. Silver Bird Bamboo
Botanical Name: Fargesia murielae var. ‘Silver Bird’
Silver Bird bamboo is distinguished by its compact, rich green leaves with a unique bluish-silver underside. This characteristic becomes especially noticeable when the leaves turn to catch the sunlight, revealing a striking silvery glow.
The plant begins with reddish shoots that mature into slender green or yellow canes. It is suitable for USDA zones 5 to 9 and reaches a height of 10 to 13 feet.
24. Clumping Bamboo
Botanical Name: Fargesia robusta ‘Campbell’
Originally introduced in Sichuan and China, the clumping bamboo species boasts its most striking feature: the new shoots emerge hairy and rusty red in early spring, adding a unique touch to its appearance.
Unlike many other clumping bamboos, it is notably more tolerant of sun and provides substantial coverage and aesthetic appeal in a garden setting.
