Gracilis

Bambusa textilis Gracilis

With its tall straight manner, graceful leaves and ever changing green/blue-hued culms this is a stunner. Gracilis is also an extremely fast grower and will grow in a wide range of situations. It will perform on a windswept coastline to a shady mountain gully.

Gracilis can be used as a large screening plant for privacy against the double story next door or planted in a small courtyard as a specimen. This is one of the best varieties to manipulate to the form you want; keep it as a luscious blanket of foliage, prune the lower branches to expose the culms, cut the tops to the height required, cut and remove most of the culms for a minimalistic look, etc.

Gracilis can reach 6mt height in most situations. Very often this is more than enough height and may impede on sun reaching your garden or the tall branches whipping around in the wind too much. Simple solution; cut them. No need to reach for the ladder. Grab hold of a culm at head height and pull it down and cut off the top meter or so, let it go, and it will spring up more vertical than before. This procedure can be done anytime of the year and to any height you require, noting than very new shoots are very brittle and may break before they flex. This pruning technique is certainly no problem for the plants health and can actually be beneficial.

With this and all bamboo varieties it is imperative to keep newly planted plants adequately watered throughout the first few months from planting.

Aproximate growing height of 5 metres

cold hardiness  minus 4