Shibataea kumasaca

Shibataea kumasaca is the most civilized of bamboos, a low, dense, evergreen kind grown for tidy structure rather than height. The short, broad, oval leaves are unusual for a bamboo, closer to the foliage of ruscus or a small shrub than to the fine blades most bamboos wear, which is why the plant goes by ruscus-leaf bamboo. Growing to about four or five feet, the canes zigzag gently from node to node, giving a second common name, zig-zag bamboo.

Native to the mountain slopes of Fujian and Zhejiang in eastern China, and long cultivated in Japan, ruscus-leaf bamboo has been a mainstay of clipped, traditional plantings for centuries. Unlike the aggressive timber bamboos, this species spreads slowly by short runners into a dense, even mass, easily kept in bounds by mowing or edging around the clump, and shows a welcome resistance to the bamboo mites that trouble many relatives.

The dense, low habit makes ruscus-leaf bamboo one of the best bamboos for a manageable hedge or a green groundcover. Set as a clipped low hedge, an edging along a path, or a solid understory sweep, the plant holds a neat, leafy wall of green through the year, and takes readily to shearing for a formal line. The evergreen foliage may bronze or tatter a little in the hardest winters, then flush fresh and green again in spring.

Give ruscus-leaf bamboo moist but well-drained, acidic soil in full sun to part shade, with a little afternoon shade and steady moisture where summers are fierce. Pair with ferns, camellias, and other shade companions in a Japanese-style planting, or run the low hedge along a walk where the tidy, self-contained habit is an asset rather than a worry. Deer generally pass the foliage by, and once settled the plant asks little beyond the occasional trim.