How to plant broadleaf bamboo (Indocalamus latifolius)? Planting methods for shade-tolerant ground cover plants

Broadleaf bamboo (Indocalamus latifolius) is a shrubby bamboo of the genus Indocalamus in the grass family (Poaceae), with a plant height of 0.5 to 1 m. Indocalamus latifolius is native to East China, Central China and other places, with abundant wild resources and a relatively wide distribution, and it is also cultivated in Beijing and areas to the south. It has strong adaptability, is relatively cold-tolerant, likes moisture and tolerates drought, and has no strict requirements for soil; it can also grow normally in mildly saline-alkaline soil, likes light, and tolerates partial shade.

Indocalamus latifolius can be propagated by sowing, division or burying rhizomes; among these methods, burying rhizomes is the most commonly used, and the survival rate is also relatively high.

In gardens it is mostly planted under open woodland, and can also be planted along riverbanks for bank protection. The culms can be used for making brush handles and bamboo chopsticks, and the leaves can be used for bamboo hats, boat awnings and wrapping zongzi.

Common planting methods for shade-tolerant ground cover plants

Like other plants, shade-tolerant ground cover plants have multiple functions such as regulating environmental temperature and humidity, absorbing and breaking down harmful gases and dust, purifying the air, and balancing the oxygen and carbon dioxide content in the air; at the same time, they make up for the shortcomings of other plants, can grow well in areas with very little sunlight and in shady, humid environments, and play a good role in soil and water conservation. Using shade-tolerant plants for shade-area greening is an important measure for increasing green area, beautifying and adding fragrance, and improving the ecological environment. Here are several common shade-tolerant ground cover plants:

1. Ardisia japonica: an evergreen small shrub of the genus Ardisia in the family Primulaceae (Myrsinaceae), also called laowuda, dijuzi, pingdimu and other names among the public, and it is a Chinese herbal medicine. The plant height is 10 to 30 cm, the leaves are nearly leathery, glossy green on the upper side and light green on the lower side. It blooms from June to September, with small white or pink flowers. The fruiting period is from August to December; when ripe the fruit is red and remains on the plant for a long time, and it is quite beautiful.

Ardisia japonica can be propagated by sowing, division and cuttings. According to records, the seeds of Ardisia japonica do not germinate in the same year and only germinate in May to June of the following year, and the natural germination rate is very poor, generally only 3% to 5%, so treatment with sulfuric acid is needed. Division propagation is usually carried out in spring and autumn; cut and divide the rhizomes, making sure each section of rhizome has one branch, then plant them in prepared containers or in leveled ground, keep them moist, and they can survive in about 20 days. If cutting propagation is used, branches about 5 to 8 cm high can be cut from May to June, part of the old leaves removed, and inserted into a prepared cutting bed, keeping the leaf surface moist and the medium moist, and they can take root in about 1 month.

Because it mostly grows in shady and humid environments such as under forests, in valleys and beside streams, it is extremely shade-tolerant and is an excellent foliage ground cover plant for shady and humid environments. It is mostly used in shady and humid places under patch forests and in shrub thickets, and is a new favorite for ground cover under urban overpasses and elevated roads. It can also be used for potted ornamental display and for planting in rock gardens, flower beds and flower borders.

2. Hosta ventricosa: a perennial herb of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), mainly distributed in wild mountain ditch edges and shady, humid places under forests in East China and Southwest China. It likes a warm and humid climate, prefers shade, and avoids long periods of direct sunlight; its tillering ability and cold tolerance are extremely strong, and it has no strict requirements for soil. It can grow well in ordinary soil. It turns green in early to mid-April, blooms from June to July; when flowering, the scape emerges from between the leaves, the flowers are relatively small and light purple, and the fruiting period is August. It enters the withering period from late September to early October.

Hosta ventricosa is mainly propagated by division, repotting and transplanting in spring and autumn. After transplanting, Hosta ventricosa survives very easily and takes effect quickly.

Hosta ventricosa has a strong ability to adapt to the environment and is extensively managed; it has great ornamental value and greening function, and can be widely used in shaded places such as under overpasses and elevated roads, in courtyards, residential communities, parks, and open spaces under greening forests.

3. Hosta (Hosta plantaginea): a perennial herbaceous plant with fleshy roots of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), with large and unusual leaves, the leaf surface bright and emerald green, the scape standing upright above the leaf clump, both flowers and leaves beautiful; it blooms from July to September, with flowers as white as jade and fragrant, and it is a beautiful and elegant summer ornamental flower. At present, there are many horticultural varieties, and more variegated-leaf varieties have enriched the visual effect.

Hosta can be propagated by sowing and division, and some new horticultural varieties are also propagated by tissue culture. Hosta produces very few seeds; harvest them after autumn when the seeds are mature but before the seed pods split, then dry and store them. They can be sown in early spring of the following year from February to March, and seedlings grow slowly. Division propagation is the main method of Hosta propagation. It can be done in both spring and autumn; in early spring before sprouting from March to April, or in autumn preferably after the leaves turn yellow, take out the roots and cut them with sharp scissors at places where the root nodes are relatively sparse, keeping 3 to 4 buds per piece, with at least 2 buds retained. Division propagation can retain the excellent traits of the variety, and growth is fast, so it can bloom in the same year.

Hosta particularly likes shady and humid environments; strong sunlight radiation will damage chlorophyll, causing the leaves to turn yellow and the leaf edges to dry and scorch. In gardens it is most suitable for planting under patch forests, or in shaded places of buildings (north side) to set off the architecture, or planted beside rocks, and it can also be potted.

4. Ferns: most ferns have strong shade tolerance, as well as strong adaptability and resistance, and can survive in poor environments, especially in places where the soil is relatively barren, sheltered and unsuitable for cultivating plants. In these places, using ferns for landscaping and greening is the best choice, and ferns grow fast and have strong reproductive capacity, so a green belt landscape can quickly appear. In areas south of the Yangtze River, Dryopteris, Pteris, Matteuccia, Humata, Diplopterygium, Pteris multifida and others are simple to plant, extensively managed, and can quickly form a landscape.

At present, landscape ferns used for commercial applications mainly rely on wild collection and sporophyte division propagation. Wild collection causes serious damage to wild fern resources and the ecological environment, and the propagation coefficient of division propagation is relatively low, with poor ornamental quality, while ferns produce a relatively large amount of spores, which is an effective way to rapidly breed seedlings.

Several terrestrial ferns such as Pteris multifida and Cyrtomium have strong alkaline tolerance, strong resistance and extensive management, and can adapt to almost all soil types. Cyrtomium can be used as ground cover plants along greenbelt roadsides, at forest edges and under forests. Pteris multifida has a delicate and soft posture, and when appropriately combined with rock scenery it can achieve a unique landscape effect; Cyclosorus and Parathelypteris are especially suitable for planting in large patches in green spaces, with a fresh and agreeable green color.

5. Indocalamus latifolius: broadleaf bamboo is a shrubby bamboo of the genus Indocalamus in the grass family (Poaceae), with a plant height of 0.5 to 1 m. Indocalamus latifolius is native to East China, Central China and other places, with abundant wild resources and a relatively wide distribution, and it is also cultivated in Beijing and areas to the south. It has strong adaptability, is relatively cold-tolerant, likes moisture and tolerates drought, and has no strict requirements for soil; it can also grow normally in mildly saline-alkaline soil, likes light, and tolerates partial shade.

Indocalamus latifolius can be propagated by sowing, division or burying rhizomes; among these methods, burying rhizomes is the most commonly used, and the survival rate is also relatively high.

In gardens it is mostly planted under open woodland, and can also be planted along riverbanks for bank protection. The culms can be used for making brush handles and bamboo chopsticks, and the leaves can be used for bamboo hats, boat awnings and wrapping zongzi.

6. Mock strawberry (Duchesnea indica): a perennial herbaceous plant with fleshy roots of the genus Duchesnea in the rose family (Rosaceae), growing on hillsides, roadsides, in grass clumps and in shady, humid places. Mock strawberry grows rapidly and has a strong ability to cover the ground; its leaves, flowers and fruits all have relatively high ornamental value. The flowering period is from April to May; when in bloom, small yellow flowers dot the plant one after another, breaking the monotony of green and giving a sense of the vitality of life. After the flowering period, it is covered with red fruits resembling small strawberries, which is quite attractive. It has strong stress resistance, is extensively and simply managed, and does not need pruning, making it a rare new and superior ground cover plant.

The seed germination rate of mock strawberry is very low, usually not exceeding 10%, but its asexual reproduction ability is very strong. Artificial lawn establishment can use whole-plant transplanting or separate the entire creeping stems and branches, or cut them into stem segments 20 to 35 cm long and bury them in soil 3 to 5 cm deep, keeping the soil moist, and a lawn can be formed in about 3 months.

Mock strawberry has relatively strong vitality, is evergreen, fast-growing, with bright flowers and beautiful fruits; the plant is short and grows creeping, is relatively tolerant of trampling, and is suitable for planting on slopes, under forests, in courtyards and other places, forming a distinctive greening landscape and enhancing urban wildness, making it a rare excellent ground cover plant. One place where it has already been used extensively is Shanghu Park in Changshu, Jiangsu.

7. Farfugium japonicum: of the genus Farfugium in the aster family (Asteraceae), a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant. The leaves are bright green and glossy, and it blooms in late autumn with yellow flowers. It likes semi-shade and humid environments, fears direct sunlight, is cold-tolerant, and can overwinter outdoors in the Jiangnan region.

Division propagation is commonly used; in combination with repotting and changing soil in spring, after removing the plant from the pot shake off the old soil, divide the clump into 3 to 4 parts, and pot them separately. It can also be cultivated in the open field, and management after planting can be relatively extensive; the aboveground part dies in winter, and it will sprout and unfold leaves on its own the following spring. Farfugium japonicum can also be propagated by seed sowing, sown in a seedbed in early spring each year, and transplanted into pots after the seedlings emerge.

Farfugium japonicum should not be too wet during the seedling stage, otherwise it is prone to disease.

It is suitable for large-area planting as ground cover under forests or under overpasses, in shady and humid places at forest edges, beside streams and ditches, and beside rocks. Several specific application methods are introduced: plant it on the north side of buildings, especially the north side of high-rise buildings; plant it in moso bamboo forests, sweetgum forests or mixed deciduous and evergreen forests as ground cover for scenic forests; plant it on the north side of rock walls, or in the shaded corners of building walls; plant it under elevated roads and overpasses to form shade-tolerant flowering ground cover.

8. Glechoma hederacea: also known as fo'er cao, jinqian cao and other names, a perennial creeping herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The leaves are opposite, with long petioles, the leaf margins have rounded teeth, and there are short soft hairs on the veins on both sides. The flowers are borne in leaf axils, in whorls of 2 to 6, labiate, light purple or pink, with a flowering period from March to April. Glechoma hederacea is scattered under trees, along roadsides and beside streams, and likes shady and humid environments. The current horticultural variety variegated Glechoma hederacea has the same growth habit as Glechoma hederacea, with white edges on the leaves.

Glechoma hederacea is pollinated by insects, and the seeds can naturally fall to the ground after maturity, but because its creeping stems root at each node, asexual reproduction is relatively easy. When establishing a lawn artificially, the creeping stems can be cut into sections for cuttings, generally 2 to 3 nodes per section, with no fewer than 2 nodes. Ensure soil moisture in summer, and they can take root in about 10 days and form a good landscape effect in about 1 month.

In early spring, the small purple or pink flowers of Glechoma hederacea dot the green leaves, filling the gap in this period when most grass species have not yet turned green, and adding a bit of color to early spring.

The above several plants all have wild resource distributions in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai region, and this is also one of the main sources of materials currently used in garden green spaces, but this method cannot be used for a long time; ultimately artificial cultivation and propagation are still needed, and moreover excellent shade-tolerant ground cover varieties are still very lacking. Therefore, researching fast and effective propagation methods for shade-tolerant plants and continuing to develop native shade-tolerant ground cover are important tasks for the next stage. As urbanization intensifies, urban building density increases, and a large number of shady environments appear, and the requirement for urban greening coverage is also getting higher and higher. Whether it is rooftop greening on high-rise buildings or greening and leisure plazas in the city center, or under overpasses and elevated roads, these places all need greening; patch forests are also one of the major directions of today's greening, with significant ecological benefits. Greening under patch forests, overpasses and elevated roads is an important part of urban greening, and the important material for greening in these areas is shade-tolerant ground cover plants.

Planting methods for shade-tolerant ground cover plants

As urbanization intensifies, urban building density increases, and a large number of shady environments appear, and the requirement for urban greening coverage is also getting higher and higher. Whether it is rooftop greening on high-rise buildings or greening and leisure plazas in the city center, or under overpasses and elevated roads, these places all need greening; patch forests are also one of the major directions of today's greening, with significant ecological benefits. Greening under patch forests, overpasses and elevated roads is an important part of urban greening, and the important material for greening in these areas is shade-tolerant ground cover plants.

Like other plants, shade-tolerant ground cover plants have multiple functions such as regulating environmental temperature and humidity, absorbing and breaking down harmful gases and dust, purifying the air, and balancing the oxygen and carbon dioxide content in the air; at the same time, they make up for the shortcomings of other plants, can grow well in areas with very little sunlight and in shady, humid environments, and play a good role in soil and water conservation. Using shade-tolerant plants for shade-area greening is an important measure for increasing green area, beautifying and adding fragrance, and improving the ecological environment. Here are several common shade-tolerant ground cover plants:

1. Ardisia japonica: an evergreen small shrub of the genus Ardisia in the family Primulaceae (Myrsinaceae), also called laowuda, dijuzi, pingdimu and other names among the public, and it is a Chinese herbal medicine. The plant height is 10 to 30 cm, the leaves are nearly leathery, glossy green on the upper side and light green on the lower side. It blooms from June to September, with small white or pink flowers. The fruiting period is from August to December; when ripe the fruit is red and remains on the plant for a long time, and it is quite beautiful.

Ardisia japonica can be propagated by sowing, division and cuttings. According to records, the seeds of Ardisia japonica do not germinate in the same year and only germinate in May to June of the following year, and the natural germination rate is very poor, generally only 3% to 5%, so treatment with sulfuric acid is needed. Division propagation is usually carried out in spring and autumn; cut and divide the rhizomes, making sure each section of rhizome has one branch, then plant them in prepared containers or in leveled ground, keep them moist, and they can survive in about 20 days. If cutting propagation is used, branches about 5 to 8 cm high can be cut from May to June, part of the old leaves removed, and inserted into a prepared cutting bed, keeping the leaf surface moist and the medium moist, and they can take root in about 1 month.

Because it mostly grows in shady and humid environments such as under forests, in valleys and beside streams, it is extremely shade-tolerant and is an excellent foliage ground cover plant for shady and humid environments. It is mostly used in shady and humid places under patch forests and in shrub thickets, and is a new favorite for ground cover under urban overpasses and elevated roads. It can also be used for potted ornamental display and for planting in rock gardens, flower beds and flower borders.

2. Hosta ventricosa: a perennial herb of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), mainly distributed in wild mountain ditch edges and shady, humid places under forests in East China and Southwest China. It likes a warm and humid climate, prefers shade, and avoids long periods of direct sunlight; its tillering ability and cold tolerance are extremely strong, and it has no strict requirements for soil. It can grow well in ordinary soil. It turns green in early to mid-April, blooms from June to July; when flowering, the scape emerges from between the leaves, the flowers are relatively small and light purple, and the fruiting period is August. It enters the withering period from late September to early October.

Hosta ventricosa is mainly propagated by division, repotting and transplanting in spring and autumn. After transplanting, Hosta ventricosa survives very easily and takes effect quickly.

Hosta ventricosa has a strong ability to adapt to the environment and is extensively managed; it has great ornamental value and greening function, and can be widely used in shaded places such as under overpasses and elevated roads, in courtyards, residential communities, parks, and open spaces under greening forests.

3. Hosta (Hosta plantaginea): a perennial herbaceous plant with fleshy roots of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), with large and unusual leaves, the leaf surface bright and emerald green, the scape standing upright above the leaf clump, both flowers and leaves beautiful; it blooms from July to September, with flowers as white as jade and fragrant, and it is a beautiful and elegant summer ornamental flower. At present, there are many horticultural varieties, and more variegated-leaf varieties have enriched the visual effect.

Hosta can be propagated by sowing and division, and some new horticultural varieties are also propagated by tissue culture. Hosta produces very few seeds; harvest them after autumn when the seeds are mature but before the seed pods split, then dry and store them. They can be sown in early spring of the following year from February to March, and seedlings grow slowly. Division propagation is the main method of Hosta propagation. It can be done in both spring and autumn; in early spring before sprouting from March to April, or in autumn preferably after the leaves turn yellow, take out the roots and cut them with sharp scissors at places where the root nodes are relatively sparse, keeping 3 to 4 buds per piece, with at least 2 buds retained. Division propagation can retain the excellent traits of the variety, and growth is fast, so it can bloom in the same year.

Hosta particularly likes shady and humid environments; strong sunlight radiation will damage chlorophyll, causing the leaves to turn yellow and the leaf edges to dry and scorch. In gardens it is most suitable for planting under patch forests, or in shaded places of buildings (north side) to set off the architecture, or planted beside rocks, and it can also be potted.

4. Ferns: most ferns have strong shade tolerance, as well as strong adaptability and resistance, and can survive in poor environments, especially in places where the soil is relatively barren, sheltered and unsuitable for cultivating plants. In these places, using ferns for landscaping and greening is the best choice, and ferns grow fast and have strong reproductive capacity, so a green belt landscape can quickly appear. In areas south of the Yangtze River, Dryopteris, Pteris, Matteuccia, Humata, Diplopterygium, Pteris multifida and others are simple to plant, extensively managed, and can quickly form a landscape.

At present, landscape ferns used for commercial applications mainly rely on wild collection and sporophyte division propagation. Wild collection causes serious damage to wild fern resources and the ecological environment, and the propagation coefficient of division propagation is relatively low, with poor ornamental quality, while ferns produce a relatively large amount of spores, which is an effective way to rapidly breed seedlings.

Several terrestrial ferns such as Pteris multifida and Cyrtomium have strong alkaline tolerance, strong resistance and extensive management, and can adapt to almost all soil types. Cyrtomium can be used as ground cover plants along greenbelt roadsides, at forest edges and under forests. Pteris multifida has a delicate and soft posture, and when appropriately combined with rock scenery it can achieve a unique landscape effect; Cyclosorus and Parathelypteris are especially suitable for planting in large patches in green spaces, with a fresh and agreeable green color.

5.Indocalamus latifolius broadleaf bamboois a shrubby bamboo of the genus Indocalamus in the grass family (Poaceae), with a plant height of 0.5 to 1 m. Indocalamus latifolius is native to East China, Central China and other places, with abundant wild resources and a relatively wide distribution, and it is also cultivated in Beijing and areas to the south. It has strong adaptability, is relatively cold-tolerant, likes moisture and tolerates drought, and has no strict requirements for soil; it can also grow normally in mildly saline-alkaline soil, likes light, and tolerates partial shade.

Indocalamus latifolius can be propagated by sowing, division or burying rhizomes; among these methods, burying rhizomes is the most commonly used, and the survival rate is also relatively high.

In gardens it is mostly planted under open woodland, and can also be planted along riverbanks for bank protection. The culms can be used for making brush handles and bamboo chopsticks, and the leaves can be used for bamboo hats, boat awnings and wrapping zongzi.

6. Mock strawberry (Duchesnea indica): a perennial herbaceous plant with fleshy roots of the genus Duchesnea in the rose family (Rosaceae), growing on hillsides, roadsides, in grass clumps and in shady, humid places. Mock strawberry grows rapidly and has a strong ability to cover the ground; its leaves, flowers and fruits all have relatively high ornamental value. The flowering period is from April to May; when in bloom, small yellow flowers dot the plant one after another, breaking the monotony of green and giving a sense of the vitality of life. After the flowering period, it is covered with red fruits resembling small strawberries, which is quite attractive. It has strong stress resistance, is extensively and simply managed, and does not need pruning, making it a rare new and superior ground cover plant.

The seed germination rate of mock strawberry is very low, usually not exceeding 10%, but its asexual reproduction ability is very strong. Artificial lawn establishment can use whole-plant transplanting or separate the entire creeping stems and branches, or cut them into stem segments 20 to 35 cm long and bury them in soil 3 to 5 cm deep, keeping the soil moist, and a lawn can be formed in about 3 months.

Mock strawberry has relatively strong vitality, is evergreen, fast-growing, with bright flowers and beautiful fruits; the plant is short and grows creeping, is relatively tolerant of trampling, and is suitable for planting on slopes, under forests, in courtyards and other places, forming a distinctive greening landscape and enhancing urban wildness, making it a rare excellent ground cover plant. One place where it has already been used extensively is Shanghu Park in Changshu, Jiangsu.

7. Farfugium japonicum: of the genus Farfugium in the aster family (Asteraceae), a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant. The leaves are bright green and glossy, and it blooms in late autumn with yellow flowers. It likes semi-shade and humid environments, fears direct sunlight, is cold-tolerant, and can overwinter outdoors in the Jiangnan region.

Division propagation is commonly used; in combination with repotting and changing soil in spring, after removing the plant from the pot shake off the old soil, divide the clump into 3 to 4 parts, and pot them separately. It can also be cultivated in the open field, and management after planting can be relatively extensive; the aboveground part dies in winter, and it will sprout and unfold leaves on its own the following spring. Farfugium japonicum can also be propagated by seed sowing, sown in a seedbed in early spring each year, and transplanted into pots after the seedlings emerge.

Farfugium japonicum should not be too wet during the seedling stage, otherwise it is prone to disease.

It is suitable for large-area planting as ground cover under forests or under overpasses, in shady and humid places at forest edges, beside streams and ditches, and beside rocks. Several specific application methods are introduced: plant it on the north side of buildings, especially the north side of high-rise buildings; plant it in moso bamboo forests, sweetgum forests or mixed deciduous and evergreen forests as ground cover for scenic forests; plant it on the north side of rock walls, or in the shaded corners of building walls; plant it under elevated roads and overpasses to form shade-tolerant flowering ground cover.

8. Glechoma hederacea: also known as fo'er cao, jinqian cao and other names, a perennial creeping herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The leaves are opposite, with long petioles, the leaf margins have rounded teeth, and there are short soft hairs on the veins on both sides. The flowers are borne in leaf axils, in whorls of 2 to 6, labiate, light purple or pink, with a flowering period from March to April. Glechoma hederacea is scattered under trees, along roadsides and beside streams, and likes shady and humid environments. The current horticultural variety variegated Glechoma hederacea has the same growth habit as Glechoma hederacea, with white edges on the leaves.

Glechoma hederacea is pollinated by insects, and the seeds can naturally fall to the ground after maturity, but because its creeping stems root at each node, asexual reproduction is relatively easy. When establishing a lawn artificially, the creeping stems can be cut into sections for cuttings, generally 2 to 3 nodes per section, with no fewer than 2 nodes. Ensure soil moisture in summer, and they can take root in about 10 days and form a good landscape effect in about 1 month.

In early spring, the small purple or pink flowers of Glechoma hederacea dot the green leaves, filling the gap in this period when most grass species have not yet turned green, and adding a bit of color to early spring.

The above several plants all have wild resource distributions in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai region, and this is also one of the main sources of materials currently used in garden green spaces, but this method cannot be used for a long time; ultimately artificial cultivation and propagation are still needed, and moreover excellent shade-tolerant ground cover varieties are still very lacking. Therefore, researching fast and effective propagation methods for shade-tolerant plants and continuing to develop native shade-tolerant ground cover are important tasks for the next stage.