Umbrella bamboo
Fargesia murielae ·
A graceful, arching fountain of slender, yellow-green canes and small, bright leaves that weeps outwards at the top like an umbrella.
- Size
- 11½ ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around umbrella bamboo
The planner designed this bed around umbrella bamboo when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why umbrella bamboo stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Umbrella bamboo × 1, green leaves
- 2 Green-and-gold × 19, yellow
- 3 Leadwort × 17, blue
- 4 Swamp milkweed × 3, pink
- 5 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 6 Gray's sedge × 4, green
- 7 Hosta 'So Sweet' × 3, white
- 8 Snowdrop × 5, white
- 9 Early crocus × 12, lavender
- 10 Daffodil × 8, orange
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 11½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to swamp milkweed (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 9 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 44% of the planted ground. Cool colours (blue, pink and lavender) with yellow and orange as the warm notes, and cream, green and white to calm things between them. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 47 to 53, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 4 Good, 2 Satisfactory, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 8 in at the front, 22 in in the middle and 5½ ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 4 ft and 11½ ft, and no two neighbours are the same height. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where umbrella bamboo goes in a border
At 11½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
A true clumping bamboo, safe to plant: it widens by a hand's width a year and never runs. It needs shade from hot afternoon sun and shelter from wind.
- A non-invasive bamboo screen
- A weeping evergreen specimen
- Large containers
What to plant with umbrella bamboo
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese forest grass: low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Lenten rose: adds the flowers, late March to early May; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about umbrella bamboo
Does umbrella bamboo need sun or shade?
Umbrella bamboo grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does umbrella bamboo grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should umbrella bamboo be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 11½ ft (350 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many umbrella bamboo plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is there a native plant like umbrella bamboo?
Umbrella bamboo is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Inkberry: the same job in a bed; 5 ft shorter.
- Arborvitae 'Emerald Green': the same job in a bed; 24 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What does umbrella bamboo look like in winter?
Umbrella bamboo keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Fargesia
- Clumping bamboo 'Rufa' Fargesia dracocephala 'Rufa'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 11½ ft (350 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.