Is Your Ficus Hedge Dying? Clumping Bamboo Is Your Solution.

By Scott Freedman

Be careful what you wish for. For years Ficus species, from shrub to backyard menace have been the red headed stepchild of the landscape community. Throughout the building of Florida, Builders continually turned to every species of Ficus to fill any void or space for as cheaply as possible. From small hedge to pipe strangling & driveway cracking large shade tree, the Ficus was used wherever it would or would not fit. To landscapers and public works teams alike this has resulted in a love hate relationship with the species. Lately it seems like many lawn crew workers and chemical executives prayers have been answered, because the Ficus is dying, and fast too. They are calling it Ficus decline, but it is simply a whitefly that is sucking the life out of Florida’s Ficus Shrubs and trees. Your choices are simple, fight an ever long battle with expensive “imidicloriprid” treatments that make chemical companies rich and have been proven to be killing our honey bees. Yes that’s right, the treatment for Ficus decline is the same chemical that has been proven in Europe to have caused the colony collapse of recent years. You can hold on to your ficus hedge for as long as you wish to spend, but eventually all ficus owners and fans must seek out a solution.

These new world problems call for intelligent, and sometimes old world solutions. One cannot get older than Bamboo. Since ancient times man has been using bamboo to solve a multitude of problems and achieve a large variety of tasks. And for thousands of years in Southern China and Japan, many species of Bamboo have been carefully selected and groomed as premium hedge material. These varieties of clumping hedge bamboo offer one an intelligent, environmentally friendly, low maintenance solution to the Ficus hedge disaster. In the following paragraphs I will show the subtle differences in the varieties and cultivars of Oriental hedge bamboo. These choice bamboo cultivars have recently swept their way across the United States as the latest in chic, and are available from specialty online retailers from Florida to California and everywhere in between.

Here are 3 tips to help select the right Bamboo for your Ficus replacement hedge.

1. Size matters. Ask yourself what is the height you will keep your hedge at:
- Small hedges up to 10’ use Bambusa multiplex varieties of stripestem or hedge bamboo.
- Medium size hedges from 10’-15’ should use bambusa multiplex; fernleaf, alphonse karr, or Hedge variety.
-Large size hedges have the most options. For a groomed 15’-30’+ hedge in 2 years or less, use Gracilis, Seabreeze, SIlverstripe or for a 40’+ thick and impassable hedge use Bambusa Ventricosa commonly and deceptively named Buddha Belly as it doesn’t belly in the landscape and grows 3” thick culms. (Bambusa Wamin is the real Buddha belly, a dwarf that grows 12’ with swollen internodes or bellies.)

2. What look do you want- traditional hedge or open screen? Bamboo affords lots of options when choosing your hedge material.
-The Multiplex varieties of bamboo such as fernleaf, stripestem, silverstripe , Alphonse Karr and hedge each are cultivars of the same species of bamboo. A cultivar is a specific collected variety of a species. Each of the above bamboo is the same plant each collected for its own unique genetic anomaly. Alphonse Karr has yellow canes, fernleaf has tiny leaves, stripestem has tiny leaves with stripes occasionally, they are all very similar in their overall shape. The Multiplex family of bamboo are your best choice for a tight or boxed look and will give a very hearty thick look.
- For larger hedges, living walls and privacy screens my favorite bamboo hands down is Seabreeze Bamboo or Bambusa Malingensis Seabreeze. This bamboo is preferred for hedges up to 30’ tall. Seabreeze can be boxed tight at anywhere from 12’-30’ and is a large leaf than the Multiplex varieties. Seabreeze gives the perfect mix of traditional bamboo looks with the required coverage to afford proper privacy. Seabreeze has something other bamboo does not, lateral branching. Seabreeze branches right down to the ground and keeps its leaves on every branch, to achieve the ultimate in bamboo hedge privacy. If you have the height and space Seabreeze is a wonderful choice that is sure to impress with each growing season.

3. Remember to leave room. You will purchase your bamboo small as is it only sold small because it grows in so quickly. From 3 gallon containers you should expect your bamboo to reach maturity within 36 months. That’s up to 30’ in 36 months, pretty amazing! Even small bamboo like stripestem needs room to grow. When planning your bamboo hedge leave at least 4’ between plants to allow for growing in. Bamboo grows so quickly you will glad you did. For more scenic and larger areas bamboo hedge material can be planted as far as 12’ apart. Seabreeze on 12’ centers is beautiful as you can see the silouete of each clump at ground level, but they merge at about 10’ to form a dense privacy screen, it is truly having your cake and eating it too.