Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Bamboos

Pleioblastus simonii

Simon bamboo

A robust, upright, evergreen bamboo to 4.5m tall, forming a thicket of olive-green stems and luxuriant foliage with narrowly linear leaves to 30cm long

Synonyms

Arundinaria simonii

Save to My plants

Buy this plant

Plant nurseries
5 suppliers

Ultimate height

2.5–4 metres

Time to ultimate height

5–10 years

Ultimate spread

1.5–2.5 metres

Clay

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Moist but well–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

West–facing or South–facing

Exposure

Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Poaceae
Native to GB / Ireland: No
Foliage: Evergreen
Habit: Suckering
Genus: Pleioblastus are evergreen bamboos, diverse in size and habit, with vigorously-spreading rhizomes forming dense thickets of slender canes bearing several leafy branches at each node
Name status: Correct
Plant range: Japan

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil, in full sun or partial shade. Protect from cold drying winds. Creeping rootstock can become invasive in warm, moist or favourable conditions and need restraining ; see bamboo control and bamboo cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by division

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Architectural
Hedging and screens

Pruning

Remove weak, dead, damaged or spindly stems in spring and thin to show off stems to best effect. Cut out any flowering shoots promptly to discourage more from forming - see bamboo cultivation

Pests

May be susceptible to slugs

Diseases

Generally disease-free

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.