Fargesia nitida 'Great Wall'

Blue Fountain Bamboo

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Fargesia nitida 'Great Wall' is a really good selection from seedlings produced by the flowering of Fargesia nitida, the Fountain bamboo a few years ago. 'Great Wall' has been selected for it vigour and robust upright growth, gently arching at the top of each cane. Each cane being an attractive mix of pale persistent culm sheaths and green to greyish blue creating a horizontally striped effect. the lush fresh green foliage is produced in profusion and cascades amongst the canes.

In my garden Fargesia nitida 'Great Wall' has made an impressive specimen in just 3 years. Planted amongst other fargesia bamboo in dappled shade the upright then fountainous form complete with the delicate foliage making it easily recogniseable.

As with all bamboo once you have chosen a suitable location I recommend good soil preparation, bamboo are shallow rooted and will really enjoy the addition of well rotted farmyard manure mixed with your soil when planting. Water the bamboo thoroughly before and after planting and make sure it doesn't dry out until established. By that I mean keep it moist but not flooded, bamboo don't like to be drowned either. Once established it shouldn't need additional watering but will benefit from an annual mulch with a good organic compost (I use composted horse manure) and the occasional feed (I use pelleted poultry manure, a generous handful) in spring and summer.

Eventual Size: Up to 3-4 metres, but can be pruned
Position: Shade to part shade out of cold, drying winds - especially coastal winds
Foliage: Evergreen
Habit: Dense/Arching/Clump forming/Non-invasive
Soil: All soils, but avoid waterlogged areas very dry soils will need extra watering

Other: Fargesia nitida bamboo

Common Names: Blue Fountain Bamboo, Great Wall Bamboo.

Eventual Size of Fargesia nitida 'Great Wall'

Eventual size after 10 years

Plant Care

Bamboo Care

Before planting it is a good idea to soak the bamboo thoroughly to ensure the rots are well and truly saturated then dig a hole at least twice the size of the root ball add compost then place the bamboo so that the finished soil height will be slightly lower than the top of the root ball. Backfill using your soil mixed 50:50 with good compost. Once planted gently firm down the soil around the base add a top dressing of a good fertilizer, we prefer poultry manure, then mulch with a good 8-10 deep layer of compost. Finally water again to help settle the bamboo. In dry periods it may be necessary to repeat watering regularly, if the bamboo looks dry and the leaves are curling this is a sure sign. After the first season we repeat the mulching and feeding each spring.

Now stand back and enjoy. Don’t expect your bamboo to grow away like a rocket, yes bamboo can grow incredibly fast but most of this happens over a 3 month period which is very generally late May through to early August so if you’ve planted either side of this period I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.

Pruning and Grooming

Bamboo can be very accommodating here. I’ve seen pristine clipped hedges and topiary shaped plantings of both Phllostachys aurea and bissetti showing easy how easy it can be managed. What I like to do though on any large bamboo is to remove all old, thin and spindly canes (or culms as us horticulturists call them) then prune away all the side branches off the remaining culms to a height of between 60cm to 150cm depending on your choice. This in my opinion show bamboos off to there best making them stately specimens.

For more information see our Bamboo Care Guide for these types of Bamboo:

Also see our Bamboo FAQ

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