{"product_id":"berry-bamboo-melocanna-baccifera","title":"Berry Bamboo - Melocanna baccifera","description":"\u003cp\u003eBerry Bamboo does not build the tight knot of stems most people picture when they hear clumping bamboo. Its rhizomes have long necks, so each new culm comes up some distance from the last, and over the years the plant walks outward into an open grove of tall, slender green culms with light falling between them. Botanically it is still a clumper, not a true runner, but in a suburban yard it behaves like something in between and needs edges from the day it goes in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat habit is the trade-off. Where there is space, along a creek line, at the back of a big tropical garden or as a grove to walk through, the airy look is the whole appeal, and the leafy tops move in the faintest breeze. In its home range, the hill country of north east India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, it covers whole slopes in pure stands, and its thin walled culms are split for walls, floors and baskets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eKeeping a walking clump in bounds\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlan the space before you plant. Put in a rhizome barrier at planting, set deep with the joins sealed, between the bamboo and fences, paths, drains and the neighbour's lawn, then walk the line each summer for shoots that have tracked too far. A shoot in the wrong place snaps off easily while it is still soft. Dry leaves fall steadily through the year, so keep it well away from pools, gutters and ponds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDo not buy it for a tight privacy screen. The gaps between culms that make a grove attractive also let you see straight through it at eye level, at least until the stand thickens over several seasons. For a boundary that has to block a view quickly, a tight clumper such as \u003ca href=\"\/products\/atra-bamboo-neololeba-atra\"\u003eAtra Bamboo\u003c\/a\u003e does the job better, and the guide \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/fast-growing-privacy-screen-plants-australia\"\u003eFast growing privacy screening plants\u003c\/a\u003e sets out other candidates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eA plant for the humid tropics\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a bamboo for the wet tropics and the warmest stretches of the subtropical coast. North Queensland suits it, as do sheltered, frost free gardens further down the Queensland coast. It wants heat, humidity and steady moisture, and it sits still through a cool winter. A frost scorches the leaves, and a hard one can take young culms right down to the ground. Full sun gives the strongest growth, with part shade accepted in the hottest districts. Plant it into deep, fertile soil rich in organic matter, the kind that holds moisture but drains after a downpour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBamboo is a grass and feeds like one. Give it a nitrogen rich fertiliser or well rotted manure in spring and again in midsummer, spread a thick mulch across the root area, and leave its own fallen leaves where they drop. Water deeply through dry spells, especially in the first two years while the rhizome network builds. Every few years, cut old or damaged culms at ground level to keep the grove clean and let light reach the new shoots. The young shoots are eaten in its home range, but like most bamboo shoots they are only safe after thorough boiling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe fruit that names it\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe common name comes from something almost no other bamboo produces: a fleshy, pear shaped fruit, the largest of any grass, whose seed often sprouts while the fruit still hangs on the plant. You are unlikely to see it. Like many bamboos it flowers all at once at very long intervals, roughly half a century in the wild, and the culms that flower then die. In north east India the mass flowering and the fall of fruit that follows are notorious for triggering plagues of rats. A garden clump can go decades without flowering, and its timing is set by its seed generation, not by anything done in the garden. For other heat lovers to plant around it, browse \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/tropical-plants\"\u003eTropical Plants\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $239.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/when-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs-australia\"\u003ewhen to plant in Australia\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67670240625009,"sku":null,"price":239.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/berry-bamboo-melocanna-baccifera.jpg?v=1791513334","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/berry-bamboo-melocanna-baccifera","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}