You can trim all the lower branches, say up to 6 - 7 ft.

... is what I do on my clump of Bambusa tuldoides to expose the culms. A limb lopper or hand pruning shears.

Interesting, Unautre... My Tuldoides has no branches below about 6 feet or so. Yet another reason to believe that I have another mis-identified bamboo, or at least a different bamboo from yours.

Kt

As I've observed on Ph aurea, if sunlight doesn't hit a node, it won't branch.

Looking at huge Ph aurea grove from the outside, esp from south and west sides, it's a solid wall of green, foliage all the way down to the bottom nodes.

Walk inside the heavily shaded grove, and see NO branching execpt at the very top of the tallest culms where they get some sunlight.

Because my little clump of B. tuldoides leans out quite a bit, the lower nodes don't get much sun from east and south, and are in shade to the west, but a few of the nodes on the outer culms do have some branching.

Let me add that the bamboo is only 5 ft. high. Would it still be ok to remove lower leaves?

Trimming the limbs up usually does not affect the plant, unless too much is removed, so, the smaller the plant, the less you would want to remove.

On a five foot tall clump, leaving as many limbs as possible, will ensure much faster growth to maturity.

The more leaves and branches that are removed, the slower the plant will put out new growth, since leaves and branches are part of the photosynthesis process,...much needed for growth.

Kt