Thamnocalamus crassinodus 'Kew Beauty'
Bamboo
- Height × spread
- 4m × 1.5m
- Position
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, tolerates light shade
- Hardiness
- Mild winter to -5C (RHS H3)
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This showy bamboo has pale slate-blue young canes that emerge from beige, papery looking, sheaths. The nodes between the smooth cane sections are a more distinct shade of blue. The older canes turn a reddish chestnut-brown. The leaves are small and shiny green making elegant sprays held out from the upright stems, angled slightly downwards. The plant does best in a partly shaded spot, protected from the height of day sunshine. It reaches around 4m (13ft) height with a 1.5m (5ft) spread over ten years or so.
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Brown, Red
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Cube
- Height
- 4m
- Spread
- 1.5m
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Sun or shade
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, tolerates light shade
- Soil type
- All types
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Mild winter to -5C (RHS H3)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Architectural
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Feed bamboo in pots
For bamboos in pots, it may be easier to feed the plant with a liquid fertiliser diluted in water. Stand the pot on a saucer or tray while the feed in water is absorbed by the plant. This may also help to revive bamboos that cannot be repotted.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring · Planting
Prune bamboo to thin the plant
Remove some of the old canes cutting them off at ground level.
The plant is more attractive if canes are spaced out, rather than crammed together.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.