Phuket Gardening - don't be bamboozled by big bamboo

Phuket Lifestyle: Phuket Gardening - don’t be bamboozled by big bamboo

PHUKET: Like the coconut, bamboo is an indispensable part of Thai life. Essentially a lover of hot, monsoon climates, most of the genus Bambusa, or giant bamboos, come from the Asian region.

Giant bamboo is used as a building material, as scaffolding or ladders, as a source of mats, and as a key ingredient in Thai cuisine, especially the huge shoots that first appear above ground and are sold in every market. Sliced thin, this shoot, known as a culm, is a staple of many soups and curries.

There are more than a hundred different species of giant bamboo, and some of the smaller cultivars are often employed as attractive screens next to garden walls, or as free-standing barriers or hedges.

One species, Bambusa vulgaris, still grows wild in the rainforests of Thailand, though it’s in danger of being over harvested, like so many other trees. Granted the right conditions, it is one of the world’s fastest growing plants, and can manage an impressive 40 centimeters a day.