Experienced grower's notes on Giant Bamboo

I've been growing plants seriously for over fifteen years and Giant Bamboo remains a reliable favourite. For anyone starting out: the most critical thing is feeding with a high-nitrogen fertiliser in early spring. Everything else follows from that.

die-back after mass flowering which occurs once per lifetime is the challenge that trips up most beginners and some experienced growers too. I've been growing mine in a privacy screen along a boundary fence for three seasons now and the results are consistently good. rapid establishment and fast vertical growth is what makes it worth coming back to year after year. new shoot emergence in spring growing at remarkable speed is when I show it off — it earns its place fully then.