Hello all,

I live in Austin TX, and have a small grove of p. dulcis (sweet shoot bamboo) on the side of my house. We've had it for about 11 years now, and for a long time, it was thriving. Ever since the horrid drought a couple years ago, though, it's been looking raggedy. New culms grow into healthy bamboo, but a lot of the older shoots have died/are dying. I just noticed that a good portion of the grove seems looks dead at the top--leaves all brown. Maybe they were burned in one of the arctic blasts (although it never got below 22 degrees, and these are cold-hardy bamboo). My question--should I prune out every shoot that looks dead/dying, leaving just the live ones? We do prune the grove faithfully every year, but right now we're left with a thinner grove than usual. If I prune out everything that looks bad, it will be thinner than ever. However, I'm assuming that new culms will repopulate the area eventually, right? It is dry here, but I do water, and we've had good rains this winter. I love this grove, and want to bring it back to its former glory. I'm grateful for any advice!

Thanks,
Jenny