Description:

Chusquea gigantea is a large clumping bamboo that may just be a larger form of C. culeou.  Reportedly capable of reaching 60' with a culm diameter of about 2", I have not seen plants of this size in cultivation.  Although this is a clumping bamboo, it has a sprawling habit due to the very long rhizome necks, so it requires a large space in the garden to be effective.  It will grow in full sun, or a fair amount of shade, but seems to have a good number of canes that flop if grown in deeper shade.  The culm coloration and branching is similar to C. culeou, but the form is more open, and texture more coarse.  It does best in rich, organic, slightly acid soils with summer irrigation, and is hardy to about 0 degrees F.   This is an interesting, and relatively rare bamboo - one for the collectors with space in the garden for a unique bamboo!

Planting History:

I purchased this plant by mail order in November 2002 and planted it out in spring 2003.  The plant was initially not very healthy, but it eventually proved to be quite vigorous and sprawling in a semi-shaded location with organic soil, manure mulch, and lots of summer irrigation.  Too large for the garden space it occupied, I transplanted/divided it into containers, summer 2004.  It propagated well by severing the rhizomes at the point of attachment to the parent rhizome.  Like C. culeou, it likes lots of water, and dislikes being rootbound.

In September 2005, I planted one of the 3 gallon propagations in a trial bed at the peony farm.