Bamboo has been used by mankind since pre-recorded history. Its uses are for food, shelter, tools, warfare, aqueducts, utensils, fuel, privacy screens, and ornamental landscaping, to name a few. Bamboo has become very popular in the last 10 years as a landscape plant in the United States. Bamboo plants are classified as either running or clumping. Running bamboo plants are the most widely used type of bamboo and consists of hundreds of varieties.

The stalk of a bamboo is called a culm. The culms range in color from green to gold to black and some are striped. However, all bamboo have green leaves with the exception of a few varieties with green leaves and gold stripes. Running bamboo should be planted in an area where it can expand in a 360* spread, and it can continue to expand indefinitely. There are forests of running and clumping bamboo plants in China, India, and Australia. It can be prevented from spreading by installing an 18-24" deep root barrier around the desired growing area. All of the running bamboo plants online offered by Willis Orchard company are cold tolerant to -5*F or more.