Arrow Bamboo Plants

Arrow Bamboo Plants

One of the toughest varieties for the British climate, Pseudosasa japonica is the bamboo of choice for places where other varieties will struggle, such as shady woodlands and exposed coastal sites.
The slim canes are green, but they are mostly concealed by a pale cream-yellow sheath. The old leaves cling to the stems, which is great for making a barrier to light and wind.

The shoots are edible when cooked, but due to their small size and sub-par flavour, they aren't recommended.

Browse all of our Bamboo varieties here.

Features:

• Size: 3-5m
• Stem Colour: Green, but sheathed with pale cream-yellow
• Edible shoots for cooking, but small & mediocre flavour
• Evergreen
• One of the best bamboos for shady, exposed, and very wet or rocky locations
• Grows on the coast
• Great for containers
• Growth: Running, but tends to clump in most of the UK. Less vigorous than other bamboos, and easy to control runners.
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Growing Arrow Bamboo

Unlike most of its cousins sold in the UK, this hardy fellow tolerates shade well, and can grow on the coast in exposed locations; strong winter winds will leave it looking a bit sad by spring, but it responds well to trimming, and be clipped into something close to a classic hedge.

It is comparatively tolerant of drier soils when well established, without the need for constant watering in summer, although it will still need some help in a drought. On the other hand, it will grow right down a river bank to the water's edge.

In warm conditions, it is a running variety, but in most of the UK it tends to clump. Furthermore, its new rhizomes are weak and shallow, so it is easy to control by slicing them off with a sharp spade in April-May. Still, it is more convenient to use a protective root membrane if you are growing it in warmer locations South of around Nottingham.

Bamboos have shallow roots, so they can be planted close to trees as windbreaks and/or for their shoots.

Did You Know?

Its common name does what it says on the tin: the slim, lightweight canes are perfect for making arrow shafts.

Bamboos have been the source of considerable taxonomic conflict since the reign of Linnaeus. This variety, introduced to Europe in the 1850's, was originally Bambusa metake (it is sometimes referred to as Metake bamboo - we don't know if it is connected, but there is a town called Mitake in Japan), and then Arundinaria japonica.