By the end of the summer, many bamboo plants have masses of new shoots at the base, and many side shoots off established shoots. A bamboo can be transformed by a bit of artful grooming, and we do this to any that we look after. The stems can be shown off by removing the majority (70-80%) of the small, new shoots. You can also remove all the small side shoots emerging from the bigger stems (correctly known as "culms") up to a certain height. Doing this gives the plants a much more architectural appearance, and it encourages some stems to grow really sturdy and thick.