PlantFiles: Heavenly Bamboo, Nandina
Nandina domestica

I have done alot of research on this plant. I know about its invasive habits. I have had it for 4 years in my garden. It is not evergreen in this zone (5B), and may die back to the ground. Mine is about four feet tall now and staying in a nice tight clump. It is a very nice plant for late fall color. It may keep its leaves untill january depending on the weather. I have only had it die back all the way once. I was not able to find a source in my area, but on a vacation to WV I found it a at home depot. I have been very happy with it and woud like more, but will not be in WV again for a long time.

This plant grows very welll here in the hot desert in the shade / morning sun. I have even seen it in full sun conditions, but does it not look as good. I have them planted on the north side of some palm trees, so it gets shade and also helps to partly hide the palm trunks. Great winter color and requires little water. In NO WAY is it invasive in the desert soil.

I am so surprised at the number of negatives on this plant. It almost sounds like we're talking about 2 entirely different plants. Here in So. Ca, I have grown this plant in 3 different homes for nearly 30 years and I love it! Especially some of the newer cultivars like gulf stream and Sienna sunrise, which are full and lush all the way to the ground, with beautiful shades of orange and red. I have never SEEN a runner, nor
a plant over 4 1/2 feet tall. Perhaps it's our lack of extreme humidity and heat, I don't know.

We have had this plant growing in our front yard for twenty years. It has withstood drought and hard frost conditions. The foliage is amazingly lovely and the plant requires little care...I almost feel that it has been neglected -- but, you could not tell from the way it grows on dependably year after year.

Hard to get rid of once you have it. Grows like a weed. Completely invasive in Texas

Notice all the comments on aggressiveness come from the warmer areas. Not at all aggressive here and makes a wonderful 4 season shrub. The ugly legs are the one downer, but as Deb said, it can be addressed with proper pruning to different heights. Love this plant.

Although I have to agree that this plant can and in some ways does look quite pretty (at times), it's a major thorn in my side right now. We just bought our house in January, and nandina is the shrub of choice in the flower beds on both sides. Trouble is, it's so huge and overgrown in both areas that I don't know what to do with it. I'd like to plant other things in at least some of those flower beds, but so far I've had no luck getting rid of what I've got. I read all the suggestions for getting rid of the runners and such, but does anyone have any input on getting rid of the mature plants? The root system is akin to a small tree, and I simply don't know how to get enough of it up to kill the darned things.

Heavenly Bamboo, Nandina Nandina domestica is naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an invasive plant in Texas.

I've always had these in my yard. Yes, they tend to multiply, but can be controlled without alot of effort, at least that has been my experience. If they are too tall or leggy, you can hard prune in very early spring (Jan. is good). Seems to work best in 1/3s, i.e. a 3rd of the shoots tallest, a 3rd medium, a 3rd short.

I love the foliage. It almost has a Japanese garden look to it. From now on I will cut off the berries, which I haven't been very impressed with the appearance of anyway. The foliage offers year round interest - beautiful colors. Low maintenance, takes pruning very well, root suckers pull up easily (most of the time). I have several as foundation plants mixed with daylilies, dwarf crepe myrtle, azaleas, dianthus, petunias, white-veined dutchman's pipevine, Ligustrum (one trimmed up as a topiary and one limbed up as a small tree) caladiums, dwarf burford holly, a cleyera shrub and a gardenia shrub. I love it.

This plant always looks beautiful in my yard. It can be trimmed to fit some weird little spot where you cannot find just the right plant to grow. It sends out a few runners but easy to cut off if you do not want the the new plants.

I grow it in a pot in Colorado and it has done very well. I bring it into the house in October for the winter.

It looks like a bamboo, sort of. It isn't. It's pretty. It's planted almost everywhere I have been here in Florida. The Gainesville Regional Airport, 15 miles from me, has (last I checked...I hope they've gotten rid of it) it as a major feature of its landscaping. I've seen it in big decorative pots in Stuart, which has a nearly frost-free climate and a mess of other invasive plants already (Australian-pine, melaleuca, Brazilian pepper...). It's become a CLICHE' plant, and the birds defecate out its seeds where they like (the red berries seem to be popular bird food), so it's become an invasive pest as well. Heck, you're better off planting a REAL bamboo: not all varieties spread invasively by roots (whereas this plant can), and real bamboos very rarely set seed (and usually die after they do). Just say no to N. domestica.

I am considering purchasing Heavenly Bamboo (nandina comestica) from the local Home Depot in my area. I wanted to know what may be good companion plants with it? Azaleas? Junipers? Any suggestions? Thanks.
Rebecca- Fuquay-Varina

I have not experienced the wide spreading habits of this plant, but I do know it grows very quickly in the sun, and becomes unkempt very quickly. Im sure when its well trimmed it can look nice, but mostly I just think its unwieldy and ugy. Im going to prune the snot out of mine this spring and see what happens. There are several around the house, all of which are small disaster areas. I dont want to kill it, becase I hate killing any plants in general, but I really dont like it, and its taking up prime real estate in the yard. Hopefully pruning it hard will let it grow out a little better, or at least attain a better shape.

This plant is weedy and just plain UGLY !

Yes, it is beautiful, but please don't plant it in central or southern Florida. It tries to take over the world. I should have added that you don't need to plant the seeds. The birds will take care of that for you. Also, they sucker from the roots and spread all over the place.

I love this plant because the foliage changes color, something that rarely happens here. I have not tried starting by seed. They are beautiful and do not overpopulate here.

One of the older ornamental shrubs, Nandina is frequently seen in the deep south. The elegant, delicately formed stems and foliage belie the plant's hardiness; beyond a reasonable amount of light and water and the occasional pruning for shape it requires very little care at all. You should, however, think of this as permanent planting. Although it can be eliminated, you will find that it takes a concerted effort over the course of several years.

There has been considerable comment about the invasive nature of the plant. My mother had nadina in her yard from the 1950s until her death in the 1980s; I have had it in my own yard for well over ten years. Circumstances differ, of course, but I have never found it in the least invasive. It can, however, grow to be a very large plant; unless you enjoy frequent prunings I would not recommend placing it under windows, etc., for given enough sun and water it can very quickly grow quite tall and block the window entirely--as it tended to do outside my mother's kitchen.

Nandina can be very beautiful with their rainbow shades of foliage, scarlet berries and lacy leaves. I've not had the experience of it being invasive, yet. They were planted by the builders of house when we moved in three years ago. I haven't noticed any seedlings, volunteers or suckers. I also hadn't noticed any birds or animals consuming the berries.

These seem to be very popular in landscaping but are best planted where they can be easily controlled--NOT left alone in the woods to wreak havoc if they are invasive plants. Aliens often replace native plants that just can't compete.

I live in The Piny Woods of East Texas and I have had this plant for 20 Years. It does not send out roots but the birds love it so it is spread out into my woods. But I would not call it invasive. It pulls up very easily and you can replant it if you want more. It is beautiful in sun and shade, it is evergreen and the berrys are wonderful at Christmas. Please plant it where it can grow to its full height and you will be very happy with it. They grow best in the woods where they are left alone. Joan

While treehugger has an important point - if this is threatening natural habitat in your area, it shouldn't be planted - I have had a batch of it that has been in my garden since I moved here 30 years ago that has never sent runners and I have never found a single seedling. It stays put here. If it gets too large it can be trimmed easily and grows back without looking "scalped". Thinning it is also easy and if you want a screen, leaving it thick works too. I have it in full sun and full shade. While less vigorous in full shade, it is a good screen plant there also. I have planted Iris, daffodils, clematis, Dahlias, Azaleas and annuals along with it with no problem. Curious that people have so many different experiences.

I bought several of these "clearance-type" a year ago. Thought they were dying, looked really bad the first year, but this year they are beautiful, green as well as red leaves, the shape of the plant is rounded and "full". So far I am very happy with them and hope they survive the 10" snow we just had that has completely covered them (outside my backporch door). That snow is really unfamiliar in the area, I might add.....the Wabash River in southern Indiana.

Class I invasive. FLEPPC dot ORG Listed as a problem for all southeastern states and Texas. invasive DOT org
It surely is beautiful, though--too bad.

1/12/05 update. According the the data sheet on this, the berries are dispersed by birds and other critters. What does this matter, you ask? The plant may not grow aggressively in your yard or perhaps you have a way to control it by cutting the underground runners. However, there is no one to cut the underground runners in the wild 5 miles away where a bird dropped seed that germinated many months later. In other words, the plants are doing damage and the damage is not happening in your yard. Please take the warnings seriously, and try to come to terms with the fact that it's best to say goodbye to these.

The following cultivars reportedly do not produce the berries in ***the nursery environment***; nana, harbour dwarf and firepower. If you ask me, why take the chance? This stuff is forming dense groves in the Florida Caverns State Park's habitats and is crowding out the endangered red columbine and oak-leaf hydrangea which is rare to find in the wild.

Please resist the temptation, there's only about a hundred million other plants you can use.

A great foliage plant. It's foliage goes redder in winter. It's a very drought tolerant plant. Very attractive. Thrives in Full sun. I cut back the canes more than 3 years old on my 8 plants and then the reshoot, stronger, healthier looking plants. It's a very tough plant. pokerboy.

It is not agressive in Mobile, AL. I have trouble keeping it growing in some places, especially low light. It seems to do well even when it gets dry as long as it gets a lot of sun. It gets hot here & is very humid. It makes a good low growing hedge because it does not grow tall in this area. I trim it about every 2 years and it grows back fuller but I do not have any problem with it growing tall. The thing does not excite me that much but I got a bunch with the house and it looks just fine.

I like nandina very much. The berries in the fall and winter (and well into spring), and the leaves, add much needed interest to the bland gardens. They do self-propagate very easily, but with diligence, one can keep nandina under control. I transplant it to areas that need "something" and it fills in perfectly. Nandina is very drought tolerant. In fact, I never think about having to provide water to them during the usual hot and dry Atlanta summers.

I've had the plant for two years now (bought as a 1 foot twig!)and planted it by our pond in Luton, UK. It has grown to height of 6 feet has flowered, and associates well with other taller plants at the side of the pond (e.g. Pheasant Berry). A cracking plant that appears to be fully hardy in our garden.

Every home I have ever lived in in the Coastal South has had some type of nandina in the yard, and I have never, ever, noticed that it was invasive. It may be that our plants were mostly in the shade, or in the back of borders, where they were never much fertilized, or that they never had any water other than rainwater. Or that the soil was quite sandy. But whatever the conditions, year in and year out, this was always an attractive, airy looking, evergreen shrub with beautiful fall and early winter red berries my mother cut for Christmas decorations.

The ones from my childhood grew quite tall and made attractive screens from too close neighbors in New Orleans, but through the years I've noticed many new, smaller, "dwarf" varieties with more intense colors. And I always thought the plant lived up to its common name of "Heavenly Bamboo." I've also noticed that nandina is planted a lot in rental houses with small yards, as a no-care, evergreen, indestructable, general purpose landscape shrub, and I am very surprised to find this plant getting such a bad reputation now.

So perhaps it still has a place in a difficult situation, say a small strip between a concrete driveway and a fence, or in a somewhat shady location, where it is difficult to grow most plants, and it would provide a green, softening efffect. Or in the very back of borders, under shade trees, without a lot of fertilizer or water. I just can't imagine a Coastal South landscape without a place, somewhere, for this beautiful plant.

Heavenly bamboo is not aggressive in my North Carolina Piedmont garden. My nandina is in quite heavy shade in a woodland garden area and looks very nice with my other evergreen shrubs and trees e.g. euonymous and maples. It thrives even under drought conditions under maples that suck up all the water. I would not use this plant in a bed or in the sun since it could create a problem under good growing conditions. It seeds itself somewhat readily, and birds spread seed as well, but not anything that can't be kept up with in the shade if you don't want new plants. In our area, we use the foliage and red berries to decorate with at Christmas. The plant is easy to keep looking nice by pruning the tallest cane(s) yearly.

This variety spreads through underground runners and seeds. There is a variety that is noninvasive, but I do not know the variety's name at this time. I wished I had known this fact before planting this variety.

I heavily mulch around the plants and pull any new sprouts from seeds before they have time to root deeply. Any unwanted sprouts from runners must be pulled up hard enough to locate the point at which the runner has originated at the base of the "mother" plant. Then, it can be chopped off (I use a long nose shovel or a heavy duty pruning shear). Every year, I cut off the berry clumps before they mature and fall to discourage seed sprouting. Stray seed sprouts can be killed with Roundup. Stray runner sprouts can be killed with Roundup if the runner has been severed from the "mother" plant. Any manner of removal of new sprouts is difficult when they are intermingled with other plantings. These are beautiful plants, but this variety takes a lot of work to keep them from taking over the beds.

The berries can be mildy toxic to cats and other grazing animals.

I did not find it to be invasive, but that was because it died right away. When I bought it at our old house, in San Francisco, I did not know it was invasive or I would not have done it. The berries are very beautiful.

Be certain you really, really like this plant and want to keep it forever. It is extremely difficult to get rid of, as even the smallest piece of root will resprout.

This plant has gorgeous red berries in autumn and all through winter, which adds lots of color in an otherwise drab environment. It can also be used as a hedge once the plants reach a fairly decent size.

A relative of the Barberries, the common name of Nandina domestica is in reference to its delicate, bamboo-like foliage. It starts out maroon, turning green as it matures. Inconspicuous flowers in early summer turn to red berries that remain on the plant through the fall and winter months.

In the right setting, it's a lovely shrub. In a mixed border, or in the wrong setting, it's invasive and aggressive, spreading by underground runners and getting too tall too quickly. We've removed several LARGE shrubs that were planted in front of windows, and effectively blocked all light coming into the room; two years later, we're still finding new sprouts that keep popping up.