The Only Plant You Need to Add to Your Yard in April for Natural Screening – It'll Keep Your Garden Private All Year Round

We all want privacy in our backyard, and there are plenty of ways of going about it that won’t upset the neighbors or detract from the aesthetics of your own space. Of course, I’m talking about planting, more specifically, bamboo.

Now, don’t be alarmed when I say bamboo. Yes, it can get a bit of bad press for its enthusiasm, but there are two kinds of bamboo: the non-spreading, ‘clumping’ forms, and the spreading (or ‘running’), aggressive types. The Fargesia species are all 'clumping' bamboos, which spread slowly, making great options for well-behaved garden screening options. Look out in particular for Fargesia rufa, robusta and murielae varieties (hedge bamboo, from Fast Growing Trees, is also a clump-forming option.)

April is the ideal time to plant bamboo. It really is a brilliant plant and one of the best ideas for creating privacy in your backyard. With the ideal conditions of spring sunshine and, hopefully, some gentle rain, it’ll get off to a cracking start and put on lush new growth that will solve your privacy issues in a matter of weeks.

The Best Privacy Plant to Grow in April

Native to Asia, China and Japan, where it grows wild in huge forests of rustling greenery, bamboo is actually a member of the grass family. It’s valued in a backyard setting for its gorgeous evergreen foliage, that soothing swishing sound, the beautiful green, yellow or even orange canes and its wonderfully exotic vibe.

One such example is Chinese dwarf bamboo, or Bambusa glaucescens ‘Alphonse Karr’ (USDA Zones 7-10).

A large, hardy, clump-forming variety, it has a lovely weeping shape and grows to around 10ft in height. It has handsome yellow-orange canes with vertical green stripes, which shift in color over the seasons from yellow to pink, then orange and green.

Also known as the hedge bamboo, it’s drought tolerant and a fast grower that soon becomes a dense living screen, perfect for solving any privacy issues.

Another smaller bamboo, also growing to around 10ft is Fargesia rufa (USDA Zones 5-7), a super-hardy variety that will form dense clumps of arching fountain-like growth, in sun or shade, with new canes a vibrant bright green, maturing to yellow.

You can buy Fargesia rufa at Nature Hills Nursery.

A little taller, eventually reaching 13ft, is Fargesia ‘Red Panda’. It’s pefect for a bit of rich color, as the new green canes turn a golden orange as they mature, then a handsome red-brown in their second or third year. It’s dense and upright, making it a particularly good choice for creating privacy in narrow borders.

How to Plant Bamboo for Privacy

If you want to know how to grow bamboo, the good news is that the majority of bamboo plants are unfussy and can be grown in sun or part shade in good humus-rich, well-drained soil.

But some varieties are a little more demanding, so always read the plant label and plant accordingly. Bambusa glaucescens ‘Alphonse Karr’ prefers a sunny spot, while Fargesia nitida prefers light shade.

Many bamboos, including Chinese dwarf bamboo, can be clipped annually to keep them to a hedge of the size you want.

Grow it in the ground or in large containers like these Veradek containers from Amazon at your boundaries (do invest in roomy containers, at least 16in. in depth and diameter, as they’ll give bamboo the space to form lush, dense groups of plants without constant attention in the form of watering and feeding).

A really effective idea for creating more subtle privacy is to use bamboo near your house or patio area. Bring it forward by placing it strategically in pots near the spot where you feel you need a bit of screening.

Staggered ‘layers’ of pots around that space can work really well, avoiding the overbearing feel that dense boundary screening tends to give. You could even add casters to your planters for portable screening around a sunbathing spot or pool, for example.

If you’re planting in the ground alongside boundaries, the guidelines are similar to how to plant shrubs: leave a 2-3ft gap from your fence or wall.

Tease out any pot-bound roots and plant in a hole twice the width of the root ball and slightly deeper than the pot level, mixing in some garden compost or multipurpose compost as you backfill the hole.

Water really well and mulch around the plant with a 2-3 inch layer of bark chippings, like these from Ace Hardware, to retain moisture and stop weeds growing.

Water regularly in their first season of growth, and they should soon settle in and begin to provide that tropical greenery you came for.

Spring or autumn are the best planting times, when they’ll benefit from rain and cooler temperatures that will set them up for a good start in life.

How to Prune Bamboo

There are a few different pruning techniques for bamboo, depending on the ultimate effect you want to create, and whether you want a tall, arching, swaying plant or something stouter and more hedge-like. There’s also a great trick I’ll share to show off those glossy coloured canes.

If you’re after a bushy look for your bamboo screening, or simply need to keep it at a certain height, then by all means you can top it annually. Late winter or early spring is the best time for this, when the plant is dormant.

Bamboo is a grass, remember, so just like a lawn when you mow it, it will encourage new shoots to grow from the ground and, sometimes, new lateral shoots too.

For a lighter, more airy screen planting, you can thin it by cutting out entire canes. You’ll need good, sharp loppers or a pruning saw, like this one from Ace Hardware, and cut at an angle right at ground level. Remove anything dead or damaged while you’re there.

Make sure you keep your cut canes to use around the yard as plant supports and wigwams for beans, peas, sweet peas and other twining plants.

My favourite trick with bamboo is to remove the lower third of the foliage from the canes, starting at ground level. This really shines a spotlight on the coloured stems, resulting in a gorgeous thicket of tall, elegant canes topped with rustling leaves.

It’s always a good idea to give your bamboo a generous watering and mulching after pruning to help it bounce back into life.

What to Plant Next to Bamboo

With their distinctly exotic good looks and Asian heritage, bamboos team up naturally with other lush foliage plants, particularly those from Asia.

They're the mainstay of a Japanese-inspired garden design. At ground level (although a little apart from the base of your bamboos as they can suck a lot of moisture from the soil), Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) is a winner, as are hostas, ferns, and heucheras. Watering will be key to keeping everything happy here.

To continue the exotic look alongside bamboos, think about planting Japanese maples for beautiful spreading branches and glorious foliage color in the fall.

Buy Japanese forest grass at Nature Hill Nursery.

See the selection of Japanese maples at Fast Growing Trees.

Shop for hostas at Perfect Plants Nursery.

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When you’re after elegant, lush and soothing privacy outdoors, it’s hard to beat well-behaved clumping bamboo. With its tall, swaying canes in colours from pale yellow to bright green, rich mahogany and orange, and its delicate foliage that whispers in the breeze, it’s a low-maintenance joy in any backyard.

The majority of bamboos will quickly and easily reach around 6-7ft in their first year of growth, elegantly outperforming an ugly fence or wall, and asking for little in return other than a yearly trim or thinning out.

For more screening ideas, check out our guide to front yard fence alternatives.

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