In honor of Earth Day, I thought that I would write a post today about something that you can do to help the environment. In recent years it has become more and more common for regular folks to keep plants in an effort to produce oxygen and sequester CO2. It only makes sense, then, that we would want plants that does this most efficiently. For reducing your carbon footprint, you just can’t beat bamboo. Recent studies have shown that it produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent amount of trees, and sequesters as much as 5 times the carbon. It also grows very quickly, so your plants start to make a real difference almost right away. Of course, it also helps that bamboo is beautiful and low-maintenance. Most bamboos also adapt well for growing in containers.
One of the best things about growing bamboo is that there are so many varieties available. With more than 1500 known species of bamboo, there is almost certainly one for you. Some of these species that are available are really interesting and unique. I’ve already mentioned on this blog that I have a great fondness for Black Bamboo, but we recently made available the amazing Candy-Cane Bamboo, Himalayacalamus falconeri, and it’s competing for my heart. The culms of this interesting bamboo are striped randomly with vivid colors: dark green, red, yellow, and pink. If left to grow as high as it likes, the culms will reach between 20 and 30 feet tall, but it’s a true clumping bamboo, so you don’t need to worry about it spreading out of control.