Planting bamboo for shade has proven to be one of the wisest decisions we have ever made here in our zone 9 abode. Summer exposure to the sun can be brutal on both man and beast, but now with a grove of Vivax and Oldhamii majestically towering above us, we luxuriate in cooling shade. Our dogs and ALL of our livestock bask in bamboos breezy (much of the bamboo is pruned to a 6′ canopy level, allowing breezes through while still blocking 95+% of the suns rays) protection. It is but a small exaggeration to say that bamboo alone has COMPLETELY changed the way we relate to summer heat. Being year round outdoors folk, we’ve always hated having to retreat from direct sun in our yard from June through August. Now it is easy to find a shady spot for Adirondack chairs any time on a July afternoon, a spot further cooled by bamboos immense reservoir of water stored just under our feet. A thick screen of Golden bamboo is interlaced into 16′ cattle panels bent into archways, shielding a PERFECT place to read an afternoon book.

Another small grove of yellow groove bamboo pulls double duty as both a screen and a shade. Blocking views of a neighboring building, and nearly total shading of a west facing wall from late evening direct sun. Conservatively I would guess it keeps the adjacent room 12-15 degrees cooler than before it was planted. Did I mention it is beautiful shade? It’s predecessor was a “Coolaroo” shade cloth from Costco, ugly and only semi affective.

The bamboos listed below are a few of the varieties that we have personally grown with remarkable success in zone 9; where hot dry summers and mild winters are features of our Mediterranean climate. Shade and shading ability are highly valued in these parts. Undoubtably there are many more bamboos that thrive in heat and provide excellent shade, and indeed we find new ones to test plant often. We are ALWAYS on the search for bamboos that thrive here, and will add bamboos to this list once prove

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