What to do with bamboo after drought

12 years ago

New to the forum. Found this place today looking for help with this specific issue.

I live in Central Texas and we are in one of the worst droughts in history right now. The back fence in my backyard is covered by about 8 feet of thick bamboo(All across the fence, 8 feet thick). We have been on water restrictions all summer and most of my plants and grass have died. The Bamboo looks worse than I have ever seen it.

What I am wondering is, do I need to just cut it all down and wait for it to come back next year? It is pretty well established in the ground and I am pretty sure it will be back next year. A lot of the stalks on one side of the yard are still green. Will these grow new branches and leaves next year or is it best just to start new?

This is a pic from last year when it was beautiful.

This is from today. Doing some trimming back already and wondering if I should leave any at all.

Thank you for any advice I can get.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

kudzu9
12 years ago
Once a bamboo culm has come up, it does not add new branches in later years like trees do. Culms that have turned tan are dead and can be pruned at ground level. Culms that are still green -- even if they have lost all their leaves -- could put out new foliage, so I would let them stay until next year to see if any of them re-leaf. You will not hurt anything by doing whatever pruning out you want to. And you are correct that you could get complete dieback of all aboveground growth and still have the rhizomes survive and put out new culms next year. That photo looks pretty sad, but bamboo is tough, so good luck.
stevelau1911
12 years ago
Wow, it looks like you may need to dig a well, build a water reservoir or do something about drought that bad to prepare for something like that. Perhaps the only way you could have saved it was to spray wilt pruf on the entire grove, and put a parachute over the top to shade it, but bamboo is usually very tough.

If the culms are still green, chances are, it will shoot next year, maybe not as big, but your grove still looks alive. We also had nearly a 2 month drought up here in the far north however we don't get hot weather or water restrictions.
Related Professionals
Walnut Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Cerritos Landscape Contractors · Conroe Landscape Contractors · Forest Hills Landscape Contractors · Mount Sinai Landscape Contractors · Paterson Landscape Contractors · Suitland Landscape Contractors · Wareham Landscape Contractors · Piedmont Carpenters · Weston Carpenters · Gainesville General Contractors · Hammond General Contractors · Janesville General Contractors · Selma General Contractors · Union Hill-Novelty Hill General Contractors
blessed_garden
12 years ago
I live in Austin TX, and have been researching bamboo. This is how I found your post. Sadly today, I heard on the news that the next 1-2 years will not be much different for us water/drought wise.

I love the top photo. Any idea of what type of bamboo that is? Thanks
nachowayne
Original Author
12 years ago
Not sure what kind of bamboo it is. It was here when I moved in 7 years ago.

Really not looking forward to the next few years of water restrictions and low river levels.
kentuck_8b
12 years ago
It is probably Phyllostachys aurea aka 'Golden Fishpole Bamboo'. It grows everywhere in Texas and very abundant in the south east part of the state.

Look at the bottom of the culms and see if some of the culms have nodes that are compressed, or spaced very closely together...like the grip handle of a fishing pole.

It grows everywhere around Austin and can be seen growing all along HWY 71 going toward Houston. I also have seen countless groves from Houston to Lufkin on HWY 59.

Kt