General Info – Oldham’s Bamboo, Oldhamii, Sweet Shoot Bamboo, Giant Timber Bamboo
Highly ornamental and visually appealing with dense growth and evergreen foliage, Oldhamii Bamboo proves to be an outstanding, multi-purpose, ornamental food crop for any garden. Edible Uses: Also known as Sweet Shoot Bamboo, the sweet, tender young shoots of Oldhamii Bamboo are highly prized. The shoots are used in oriental cuisine for their crisp texture and subtle, earthy, nutty flavour. After harvesting, it is important to boil the shoots to eliminate harmful toxins. Commonly harvested in spring and early summer, Bamboo shoots are commonly pickled or fermented for use as a condiment. They are also used in a range of delicious soups, curries, salads and stir-fries across Asia. Appearance: Oldhamii Bamboo have immense ornamental and landscape value, whether serving as an attractive windbreak, privacy screen, or focal point while contributing to a beautiful oriental aesthetic. With its dense, upright growth and rapid development, clumps can achieve mature heights of around 15m in just 5 years. Oldhamii forms a clumping bamboo, creating a compact circular cluster of poles approximately 2-3m in diameter. Its clumping nature, as opposed to the often invasive ‘running’ forms, allows for easy positioning without concerns about invasiveness. Growing Requirements: Fast-growing and hardy, Oldhamii is a low-maintenance plant during establishment and nearly maintenance-free once mature, adapting to a wide range of conditions. It exhibits cold tolerance suitable for most areas of Australia, enduring temperatures down to -9 degrees Celsius, making it suitable for many cold temperate climates. While it thrives in warmer, tropical conditions with rapid growth in warm, wet weather, Oldhamii can tolerate varying rainfall levels and soil conditions, excluding boggy soils or arid conditions without irrigation. Beyond its ornamental and culinary merits, Oldhamii serves as a sustainable construction material for home gardeners, ideal for crafting structures such as poles for staking or trellises. Oldhamii Bamboo ticks all the boxes, providing sweet, crisp, edible shoots for authentic Asian cuisine, presenting a beautiful landscape feature, and being a low-maintenance choice for a variety of climates.
Note that ‘Gracilis’ is from a separate bamboo species Bambusa textilis var. gracilis which has very similar cultivation requirements. All Varieties are Cutting grown unless noted Please reach out to us (Contact & Socials) if you come across any broken links, incorrect details, or if you represent an online nursery that sells the products mentioned above.
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