Short and Tall Screen Running Bamboo

Short screening bamboos spread slowly to moderately. Their foliage can range from light to dark green and may also be variegated. Most of these bamboos can be used as house plants, but extra care is needed. Indoor air in the winter is dry, so daily misting of the leaves will help the plant look better, and there will be less leaf loss. Indoor bamboos will need to be watered and fertilized as often as other house plants. For outdoors, these bamboos are also more tolerant of heat and cold than clumping bamboos. Containment or root pruning two times a year will be needed if you want to limit the spread.

Arundinaria Gigantea River Cane is one of the only three bamboos native to North America. Culms are erect with long leaves. Looks very much like Psuedosasa Japonica. It does get a small amount of leaf burn in the winter. It is also effective as a hedge and prefers full sun to part shade with semi-moist soil.

Arundinaria Tecta Switch Cane is one of the only 3 bamboos native to North America. Culms are erect with smaller leaves and shorter overall than Arundinaria Gigantea or River Cane. It is very effective as a hedge or even a taller ground cover. This variety prefers full sun to part shade with semi moist soil.

Slender stemmed slow-running bamboo with boldly variegated green and creamy white leaves 6-10 inches long by up to 1 1/4 inches wide. The growth tips and young leaves are sometimes tinged pink or purple. There are long hairs on leaf sheaths. The variegation persists throughout the year. It prefers part shade with semi-moist soil.

Giant leaf bamboo has very large leaves up to 4″ by 24″. This bamboo will grow in heavy shade and is a good choice for erosion control. It is one of the more cold-hardy short screen bamboos, staying green down to -10F. The canes can get up to 8 feet tall. With its huge leaves and dense growth, this bamboo makes a fine screen.

This bamboo is one of the largest of the Pleioblastus bamboo. It makes a great short to medium screening bamboo for shadier locations. The leaves are long and narrow, much like those of Arrow Bamboo or Bashania bamboo. The culms are straight and can be used for crafts or small garden stakes.

Culms are erect with leaves up to 12 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. Branch and culm leaves are persistent. Very effective as a hedge or house plant. Pseudosasa Japonica Arrow Bamboo is very tolerant of wet soil, drought, shade, salty air, and windy conditions. This bamboo is nicknamed arrow bamboo because, in ancient times, Japan used the culms to make arrows.

Culms are erect with leaves up to 12 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. This bamboo differs from arrow bamboo by having bulbous culms given the name Green Onion Bamboo. As with Arrow Bamboo, this is effective as a hedge or house plant and is tolerant of wet soil, drought, shade, salty air, and windy conditions.

Sasa Palmata has thick, leather-like textured leaves that are up to 15 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. Culms are mid-green, ripening to yellowish-green, with purple and brown blotching near the base. It does well in pots and containers and as a houseplant. It looks best when grown in the shade. It is also somewhat drought-tolerant..

This is a low, shrubby bamboo with unique small, broad, oval-shaped leaves arranged tightly along zig-zag culms. This bamboo will benefit from a shaded, moist site with acidic soil.

These are the classical bamboos. They are grown for both their attractive culms and foliage. Culms can be yellow, black, red, blue, spotted, and striped. Some culms are wrinkled like corduroy or smooth with a waxy coat. Other bamboos have fragrant or fuzzy culms. The foliage of these bamboos can range from light green to dark green and can be variegated as well. Use these bamboos as screens, decorative specimen plants, or specimens in large containers. These bamboos are also more tolerant of heat and cold than your clumping bamboos. Spreading bamboo is your best choice if you need a fast privacy screen. Containment or root pruning 2 times a year will be needed if you want to limit the spread.

This upright bamboo has very thick culms for its size. The culms are also unique in that they give off a faint smell of sandalwood when rubbed in the summer. Phyllostachys Atrovaginata, formerly known as Phyllostachys Congesta, is very cold-hardy.

Golden bamboo is one of the best bamboos for screens. It grows very dense, with limbs reaching the ground, and forms a dense grove. This bamboo is commonly used for fishing poles. The distorted nodes on the base make an ideal handhold.

This is very much like Golden Bamboo, with the exception of the culms being green with a yellow groove. Like golden bamboo, this variety grows very dense, with limbs all the way to the ground, forming a dense grove. This bamboo is slower to spread than golden bamboo but is more tolerant of some shades than other Phyllostachys Aurea.

This is very much like Golden Bamboo. Growing very dense with limbs all the way to the ground, it forms a dense grove. This bamboo is slower to spread than Golden Bamboo. The leaves are variegated with green and white stripes. This bamboo is the reverse of Phyllostachys Aureas Flavescens Inversa, in which yellow culms have a green groove.

Phyllostachys Aureosulcata “Alata” “Crookstem Bamboo” is very much like Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Yellow Groove. It has 2-inch green culms with occasional zig-zag stems at the base. The main difference is the lack of the yellow groove. It is complementary to Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Aureocaulis, Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Harbin Inversa, or Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Spectabilis Green Groove. It prefers partial shade and semi-moist soil.

Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Aureocaulis is often referred to as “Golden Crookstem Bamboo.” It has yellow-orange culms that turn red in full sun, like Spectabilis. It is complementary to Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Spectabilis Green Groove.

Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Spectabilis has yellow canes with green grooves, the reverse of Yellow Groove Bamboo. Young new culms can turn shades of burgundy red when exposed to the sun. It grows well in full sun to part shade. This bamboo is excellent for hedges, containers, or specimen plantings.

Phyllostachys Aureosulcata is often referred to as “Crookstem Bamboo” or Yellow Groove. It has 2-inch green culms with a yellow groove and occasional zig-zag stems at the base. It is complimentary to Phyllostachys Aureosulcata Spectabilis Green Groove. It prefers partial shade and semi-moist soil.

They are also known as water bamboo. This bamboo has air canals in the rhizomes and roots so that it can handle wet soils and is cold hardy. Phyllostachys Heteroclada has upright, darker culms with medium green leaves.

This is the 2nd shortest of all Phyllostachys next to the dwarf henon. Young culms emerge dark red to purple, turning green to orange/yellow in full sun. This short bamboo makes an excellent hedge with dense foliage starting low on the culms.

Phyllostachys Mannii Decora is also known as Beautiful Bamboo. This bamboo has very straight, upright culms with masses of drooping foliage and shiny dark green leaves. The new shoots have colorful culm sheaths with tones of lavender, orange, and green aligned in a vertical arrangement on the outer covering of the young culms. This bamboo can handle extreme heat and cold as well as drought to create a full screen in a short amount of time. This bamboo also has excellent wood quality.

Red Fastuosa, or Temple Bamboo, is one of the more majestic bamboos in appearance. It is very upright and stately. Temple bamboo has short limbs and very tall and straight canes, giving it a bottle brush look. The sheaths are somewhat persistent, giving the grove an eye-catching look during the spring and summer. The nodes and lower part of the culms take on a reddish-purple color. I have found this to be a fast spreader.

This is a nice medium-to-tall screening bamboo with wide leaves that create a full screen. Like other Semiarundinaria bamboos, it is quick-spreading.