Heavenly Bamboo, Sacred Bamboo, Nandina domestica

In beds and buckets, sky bamboo enchants us all year round with decorative attributes. The leaflets have a pretty play of colors from reddish to green to purple-red. In summer, white panicle blossoms perch above the distinctive foliage, followed by bright red berries in autumn. These care instructions are practical, like saint bamboo its role as a supporting element in the creative Garden design met with flying colors.

Characteristics

• Barberry family (Berberidaceae)
• only species of the genus sky bamboo (Nandina domestica)
• Further designation: sacred bamboo, nandine
• evergreen ornamental shrub
• Growth height 200 to 300 cm
• hardy to - 12 degrees Celsius
• pinnate green leaves when shoots are red with purple autumn colors
• white panicle flowers from June to August
• red berries in autumn with long persistence
• slightly poisonous fruits

care

The evergreen sky bamboo found its way from the temple gardens of Japan to the ornamental gardens of Central Europe. Its popularity is mainly based on alternately colored pinnate leaves, a distinctive, white panicle blossom and bright red berries in autumn. Creative hobby gardeners know how to use the floral preciousness in order to establish a year-round eye-catcher in the bed in mild winter locations.

With a view to the conditional winter hardiness, the tightly upright ornamental wood spreads its playful charm mostly as a container plant on the balcony and in the winter garden. These care instructions convey which framework conditions are decisive for successful cultivation.

There is no botanical relationship whatsoever with the woody sweet grass bamboo. The German naming probably refers to the origin of the sky bamboo from the Japanese temple gardens.

Location

A sky bamboo throws the concentrated charge of its floral expressiveness into the scales at a location with these light and temperature conditions.

• bright location with mild sun in the morning or evening hours
• ideally in a sheltered, warm niche

A Nandina domestica can only survive the minimum temperature of - 12 degrees Celsius for a short time. Therefore, cultivation in a tub is a good idea in regions with no winter conditions. In mild wine-growing areas, the ornamental shrub thrives outdoors, as long as it cannot come under intense winter sun in severe frost.

Soil condition

A sacred bamboo is well placed for proper care if it can extend its roots in a soil with these properties.

• nutrient-rich, loose-humic and well-drained
• fresh and moist, without the risk of waterlogging
• a pH of 4.5 to 6.0

A sandy-loamy soil with a high nitrogen content meets the requirements particularly well. In contrast, a place in dry, calcareous earth should be avoided. For keeping in the bucket, therefore, a high-quality compost-based bog soil comes into focus. The addition of perlite or lava granulate improves permeability and effectively prevents stagnant moisture.

to water

If there is no rain, a sky bamboo keeps the gardener on their toes with his pronounced need for water. As an evergreen wood, evaporation takes place all year round, so there is a need for regular watering. This is more often necessary in the tightly limited substrate volume of the tub than in the field.

How to regulate the water balance with expertise:

• If the substrate surface dries to a depth of 4-5 cm, it is watered at any time of the year
• Let the water from the watering can run slowly onto the root disc
• If small puddles form on the ground or the trivet runs full, the need is met

It is advantageous if a sacred bamboo is poured predominantly with soft rainwater. At the very least, the tap water should stand for some time before it is used. In this way, no harmful lime content can build up in the soil - one of the main causes of leaf chlorosis.

Fertilize

A balanced supply of nutrients at a medium level preserves vitality and the willingness to flower. Fertilize a Nandina domestica in March / April and June / July with a compound fertilizer for ornamental shrubs. In the ecologically managed house garden, the sacred bamboo receives compost with horn shavings every 4 weeks from April to August.

Please work in the material only superficially with the rake and then pour plenty of soft water. The nutrient stocks in the bucket substrate are used up more quickly, so that the application of liquid fertilizer every two weeks covers the need.

Overwinter

In the Central European climate, a sky bamboo can be classified as conditionally hardy. Winter protection is therefore mandatory outdoors, especially since the minimum temperature of -12 degrees Celsius is only tolerated for a short time.

These precautions guide the ornamental wood through the cold season without damage:

• At the beginning of winter, pile up the root disc with autumn leaves, coniferous twigs or leaf compost
• Wrap the branches with fleece or jute ribbons
• Water in clear frost with freezing frost and sunshine on mild days

Ideally, you should place a bucket on a block of wood in front of the south wall of the house. The pot is given a winter coat made of jute, fleece or foil. A layer of pine needles or leaves on the substrate keeps the frost at bay. It is an advantage if there is a light, frost-free winter quarters available for a sky bamboo in the bucket, such as an unheated staircase or a cool winter garden.

Cut

With a leisurely growth rate, a Nandina domestica demonstrates Asian serenity. As a result, a topiary is not on the maintenance program every year. In any case, the flower and berry costume inevitably falls victim to a cut, at least in part. However, the shrub does not get away completely unscathed, because all dead wood should give way regularly.

How to Properly Handle This Aspect of Cultivation:

• Pruning to long shoots is only done if necessary in March or at the end of the flowering period
• Shorten the branches by a maximum of a third
• apply the scissors above a leaf shoot or a branch

If you consider a cut unnecessary, limit the measure to a thorough thinning. To do this, cut off dead or frozen branches. Shoots that are directed into the interior of the bush or that are too close together are also removed.

Repot

Experience has shown that a sacred bamboo has completely rooted the bucket every 2 to 3 years. In connection with the annual thinning and the possible pruning, it is advisable to change to a larger pot in spring.

Depending on the height you have reached, it can make sense to have a helping hand available. The new pot should exceed the previous diameter by a maximum of a third. A significantly larger vessel animates the sky bamboo to increased root growth, which is at the expense of leaf shoots and abundance of flowers.

How to repot the ornamental shrub:

• Lay a drainage made of expanded clay or potsherds in the new bucket on the floor
• Fill in a first layer of nutrient-rich potting soil
• pot the sky bamboo to shake off the old earth
• Plant the shrub in such a way that the previous planting depth is retained
• Press down the substrate well for a stable soil connection and pour soft water on

If you have a clear view of the root network, please use this opportunity to cut out rotten, soft rhizomes. If larger interfaces arise, they should be dusted with charcoal ash or rock flour. Unless Pests romp around in the root area, rinse them off thoroughly.

Multiply

For propagation, the sky bamboo offers the tricky and tedious sowing as well as the uncomplicated, quick cuttings method and division. All three approaches are explained in more detail below.

sowing

The bright red, spherical fruits contain between 1 and 3 brownish seeds. These must first be freed from the pulp and cleaned. Please note that the berries are slightly poisonous and carry out all work with protective gloves. The sowing itself takes place in stages, since the seeds are cold germs that first have to undergo stratification.

Specifically, this requirement implies that a winter must be simulated for 3 months in order to break the germ inhibition. For this purpose, fill the seeds with moist sand in a plastic bag and deposit them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Check the moisture content in the bag regularly, because the seeds must not dry out.

It continues in this order:

• Take the seeds out of the sand after the three-month cold period has expired
• fill a seed tray with potting soil and moisten it with soft water
• Press the seeds a maximum of 1 cm deep into the substrate at a distance of 5 cm

In the warm, partially shaded window seat, please keep the seeds constantly slightly moist. The time window for germination extends from 1 to 6 months. A slipped over, transparent hood has a beneficial effect on the process. However, this method carries the risk of mold, so that daily ventilation is essential. Only when a seedling has at least 3-4 pairs of leaves is it isolated.

Cuttings

The vegetative propagation of cuttings is not only faster, but also produces young plants with the same attributes as their mother plants.

How to do it:

• Cut off half-lignified, non-flowering twigs with a length of 10-15 cm in summer
• there is a leaf knot at the top and bottom of the cutting
• Defoliate each offshoot in the lower half and plant in a pot with potting soil
• keep the substrate constantly moist under a transparent hood

If a cutting sprouts again, the rooting proceeds as planned. As soon as your pupil has completely rooted the pot, repot it in a larger bucket. From this point on, the young sky bamboo can enjoy the normal care program.

division

Although this variant of vegetative propagation only produces a few young plants, it convinces with little effort and a high success rate. A well-rooted, perfectly healthy mother plant is suitable for division. The best time for the measure is in the spring during the months of March and April.

Thats how it works:

• Loosen the root ball of the sky bamboo with the digging fork and lift it out of the earth
• Cut or saw the rhizome network into 2 or more segments on a stable surface
• a section has at least 2 shoots

Plant the young Nandina domestica at a distance of 1.5 to 2.5 meters in a partially shaded location in the soil previously enriched with compost. A cut back by a third to two thirds compensates for the lost root mass. A constant supply of water supports the roots significantly.

Diseases

Immigrated from Asia, a sky bamboo lacks the necessary resistance to classic plant diseases. The following overview lists symptoms of common infections and tips for combating them.

Fungal diseases

A floury-white coating on the leaves indicates powdery mildew. Cut off all infected parts of the plant and dispose of them with household waste. In the early stages, you fight the disease with a mix of 1 liter of water and 125 milliliters of fresh milk. As a preventive measure, overhead irrigation should be avoided, as the fungal spores multiply explosively on damp foliage in warm weather.

Other fungal diseases manifest themselves in the form of round leaf spots on the upper and lower sides of the leaves. As with powdery mildew, cut off any infested leaves. Effective fungicides that are approved for home and allotment gardens are available from specialist retailers to combat this.

Root rot

Pale green discolorations in connection with wilting indicate Phytophthora root rot. There are currently no effective control agents available for this disease. In the early stages, there is a chance of salvation by replanting the sky bamboo in fresh, dry soil.

A severely attacked sacred bamboo should be removed so that the pathogen does not spread any further. For bedding shrubs, a soil replacement is then recommended to remove the contaminated soil. The triggers for the disease are overfertilization and waterlogging.