Running Bamboo - Only In The Fall?

16 years ago

The person that said that running bamboo does so only in the fall must have been drinking that week...

Since I dug a trench around my grove for rhizome control, I have been out there every 2-3 weeks clipping off runners. In the 3 months since I have dug the trench, I estimate to have clipped close to 100 runners (in a 50' diameter grove).

I am not complaining, this is worlds better than the way I used to root prune (with a sharp spade)!

Lesson: Bamboo never sleeps! ;-)

Sam

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Comments (8)

srolle1
16 years ago
what type of bamboo and when do you usually start seeing runners? is your trench open or mulched?
fluffy_bamboo
16 years ago
My running bamboo shoots in the Spring. My Golden Bamboo and Budha Belly are still shooting. The Black Bamboo finished about a month or so ago.
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samman
Original Author
16 years ago
I am not talking about shooting... That happens when the culm emerges from the ground. I am talking about the rhizomes running beneath the ground.

I have Phyllostachys aureosulcata aureocaulis and Phyllostachys aureosulcata.

I started noticing the runners about 2 weeks after I dug the trench (which is open) in early May.

They are quite easy to spot (see my post in the gallery section) and a whole heck of a lot easier to deal with than in previous years.

Sam
dcballard
16 years ago
IIRC, the reason it is recommended to root prune in the fall is the running rhizomes will not be viable after cutting them from the main grove. Cutting them all summer seems like extra work that isn't needed.
samman
Original Author
16 years ago
"Cutting them all summer seems like extra work that isn't needed."

Well, if you like chasing rhizomes into your yard 3'-5' (or more), tearing up the grass each fall, then you are correct and I hope you enjoy the exercise.

I prefer to take 10 minutes out of my day every month or so and snip off 3"-4" of rhizome tips whenever they emerge into the trench to keep my boo in check throughout the season, keeping my lawn looking nice. Before, it took me all weekend to prune and was very labor intensive.

If you have the time and energy, and don't care if you have dead 'streaks' running into your lawn from where you pulled up the rhizomes, then knock yourself out. I for one, have better things to do with my time.

Sam
dcballard
16 years ago
You don't have to pull up the new runners in the fall. Once you cut them off from the grove, they will die.
inversa
16 years ago
pruning the emerging tips as they show up in your trench stimulates new buds to take off in that direction so that is one reason you are seeing so many to snip. sounds like you have a maintenance plan that works for you and that is the key to growing runners, so snip away!
samman
Original Author
16 years ago
"You don't have to pull up the new runners in the fall. Once you cut them off from the grove, they will die."

If they are long enough and have a good root structure, they will continue to live/grow.