Bamboo Projects for Your Garden

Bamboo is a strong, durable and versatile material. It can be used for a wide variety of projects both in the home and in your backyard! Objects and artwork made from bamboo have a natural and exotic beauty while remaining easier on your wallet and on the environment than regular wood. If you are looking to incorporate more bamboo projects into your landscape, we have a few DIY ideas to get you started.

Bamboo Projects to Try

1. Use them as planters. Cut the stalks in half vertically and plant succulents along the length of them, or saw them into sections and use them as pots for small plants or new cuttings. The natural barrier that forms between each section gives your bamboo pots a natural cup-like look.
2. Make a trellis or tepee from long, narrow bamboo stalks. Even though they’re hollow, bamboo is extremely strong. It will easily provide the support your climbing plants need to thrive, and looks beautiful too.
3. Create some garden artwork. Bamboo is quite porous, and thus can be easily stained in different shades or browns, reds, oranges, and tans. They can be used to create beautiful designs that decorate a wall, fence, or garden gate.
4. String them together for some natural wind chimes. Not only do they look appealing, but when hung together bamboo sections produce a lovely soundscape to increase your enjoyment of your landscape.
5. Establish a privacy screen. As mentioned before, bamboo can be used to create a screen or fence that doubles as a gorgeous art piece. The low density of the bamboo means these fences can be easily lifted and moved if need be. Or, if you prefer a green screen, live bamboo can be grown and placed in front of windows that face your neighbors to increase your privacy. Just make sure to grow them in pots–bamboo is a fast-growing invasive species and quickly overtakes an area when planted in the ground.
6. Create a lovely nighttime ambience. Simply place battery- or solar-powered tea lights inside short sections of bamboo to provide soft glows of light throughout your garden or along paths and patio steps.
7. If you’re particularly crafty, you can try your hand at building a garden bench. Because it’s so strong, it doesn’t take much bamboo to create a sturdy, natural, low-cost bench on which to enjoy a cup of coffee or rest in between landscape projects.
8. Upgrade your landscape with a small cascading fountain. Water trickling along a bamboo cascade and into a pool below produces a peaceful sound that you will never tire of. This system can be as simple as just a few pieces, or can be a major feature in your yard.
9. Make a bee hotel. Tie a bundle of bamboo sticks together and place in a corner of your yard to create an inviting home for our native bee species. The bees and your garden’s flowers will thank you!
10. Use the bamboo as edging for garden beds or paths. It is quickly installed and easily replaced if a piece breaks or if you want to change the shape of the feature. Halved lengths can be laid in the ground, or you can get fancy and create short wicker-like fencing that is sure to delight.

Come to Big Earth Landscaping Supply for your bamboo projects and all of your other lawn and garden needs. Check out our locations here.