cold and bamboo

15 years ago

Alarmed Tonight/Thursday nightÂ.

I have a beautiful, dense, towering (25 to 30 feet) grove of Vivax and Yellow Grove in my yard in coastal Connecticut (about Â½ mile from Long Island Sound). At this momentÂmy leaves are lush green and look perfect.

Right now the temperature is 17.9 F (no wind). They are forecasting lows around 10 F tonight. Although I am worried, IÂm even more worried about Thur NightÂ they say after tomorrows quick snow moves throughÂ. the Arctic front will plunge temps Thursday night to near 5 F with windchills to - 15 F below. Although the real cold will pass by Saturdays (they say the high will be back near 35 F, with lows around 20 F)ÂI donÂt know if my grove can handle this. They says this is the coldest air in five years. My grove is five years old.

Can my bamboo withstand this?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

kudzu9
15 years ago
Vivax is hardy to about -5F and Yellow Groove (not "Grove") is hardy to about -10F. You may get some leaf damage with that wind chill, but the bamboo should be fine, especially if the cold snap doesn't go on for days. The main concern is that Vivax is very thin-walled and the culms can easily snap off under snow loading, so get out there and shake the snow off, if necessary.

...then report back after this is over...
nomadct
Original Author
15 years ago
Kudzu9:

Sorry...I always do that with YG...calling it "Grove" instead of "Groove" . I think I'm always thinking "of my bamboo grove" (lol).

Last night/this morning turned out not too bad...the morning low was 12.9 F. So I'm not so worried about the temps. We are currently geting a light snow across southern CT/Long Island, but it is passing quickly, we should only get 1 - 3 inches. It's tonight that the worst of the cold will come with the wind chills. It's pretty rare for the temp to go much below 5 F in the coastal Tri-State area. Still, last year I had a low of 5 F, and the year before last (2006), a low of 8 F and my bamboo did fine. BUT - THERE WERE NO REAL WIND-CHILLS... THESE WERE CALM NIGHTS.

My main question is if this sub 5 F temps/windchills only last 18 hr or less, will my leaves still stay green. By Saturday we should have lows back around 20 - 25 F. Would a tarp or burlap tonight help?
kudzu9
15 years ago
No guarantees, but I think you'll be ok. I would worry about wrapping it and then accumulating a heavier mass of snow on it than otherwise. Good luck and let me know how it goes...
User
15 years ago
I really would NOT worry. I have had groves of Yellow Groove In Metro NYC/zone 7 for over a decade (up to 35 feet). They had gone through very bad winters. I had very little damage with them over the years. I only tarp my containerized boos.
nomadct
Original Author
15 years ago
Just wanted to report back Â.all is well.

Although we went down to Â2 F this morning across coastal ConnecticutÂthe winds were almost calm - which helped greatly. Also, you know the drill on the East Coast, if it's very coldÂitÂs very sunny. Once the sun came up, like a rocket the temps went up too Â8 F in less than two hours. Toninght should only fall to around 10 F, then thatÂs itÂthe cold wave is history, nights are back in the 25 F range. It was pretty incredible thoughÂthis was the coldest morning (-2 F) in the last 7 years in my garden. So much for zone 7 this year (lol).

I know sometimes it may take a week to see leaf damage, but I think the calm wind will prevent any large scale leaf loss. Thanks to those who responded, only someone who spends a great deal of time in the garden creating a special landscapeÂcan understand the feeling of fear in losing everything in one night.
kudzu9
15 years ago
Glad to hear it went well. I thought you would be ok, but didn't want to promise something I had no control over....