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ion_source_guy

Bamboo in Zone 5B Fort Collins

ion_source_guy
14 years ago

When I visited the Anaheim arboretum, and the Huntington Library Gardens, 6 or 8 years ago, I was smitten by the bamboo. It was SO COOL. I don't know how else to put it. Most of those bamboo patches have these little paths in through them. So you sneak in through the path, and then you're invisible to anyone walking by on the walkway. The bamboo is so thick it's like solid walls, or maybe like.... well, I don't know. If you haven't had an opportunity to experience that, you should visit one of those places, or somewhere else that has a bamboo patch of some kind of full size timber bamboo.

A few years later, when I realized there are a few bamboo which may be hardy enough to grow here in Fort Collins, I couldn't resist giving it a try. I knew the stuff just doesn't grow as big in cold climates, so I searched out the biggest really cold hardy varieties, and ordered a few small starts.

Well this past summer was the third summer for my bamboo. Although they are smaller than the bamboo of my dreams, all 3 of the ones I bought have survived, and seem to be pretty healthy, but definitely not large so far.

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This one is Phyllostachys Decora.

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The larger one on the right is Phyllostachys Yellow Groove, and the smaller one on the left is Phyllostachys Nuda. There's some kind of silvergrass between them, and a start of hardy pampus just behind and a little to the right.

Please excuse my mess. Of course these were all originally planted with the thought that they might hide my ugly metal shed, and other mess. That may never happen unless they grow a lot bigger, or I unless perhaps I manage to shrink the size of my mess. (don't hold your breath on that one)


It's been fun to grow them. It reminds me of the feeling I got when I was a kid, and my Dad let me grow some of those really big sun flowers in our vegetable garden. Frequently I go out and check to see how tall they are growing. It's particularly exciting in the spring, when the new shoots come up, because they shoot up so fast. I think my shoots seem to grow any where from 3 or 4 inches to a foot in one day. So even though I check them daily in the Spring, often they've zoomed up 2 or 3 feet tall before I have spotted them.

They stay green into December. Then all or nearly all the plant above ground dies. I don't think it's so much the cold that gets to it. I think it's the combination of the cold along with such dry air, and the violent fluctuations between warm and cold and sun through our winter that seems to desiccate it. Some of the stems stay barely alive, and a few of them have managed to put out a few new leaves the following year, but for the most part it dies and has to come up from the roots each spring. I'm sure that must be largely why it's not able to build up much size here. It's sort of starting over each summer.

This winter I've covered one with plastic, to see if that will manage to keep the above ground part alive. I'll let you know how it does.

They say the 3rd year is when bamboo really takes off. However, mine were only a little bigger and more filled out by end of the 3rd year compared to end of second summer. I suspect mine may already be near max size for Fort Collins Climate, unless I'm able to work something out to keep the leafy part alive through the winter.

Even so, I am enjoying them. They're really just sort of a sprangly shrub kind of a thing, but there's something about them that is still appealing, and hints of a different flavor than things we normally see here in Fort Collins.

I wouldn't recommend them here as a screen, as some folks in other parts of the country seem to do. They're not really tall enough for that (so far anyway), and I don't think they're really.... firm enough for that. They kind of tend to droop down.

Although these are all Running, type varieties, and they are starting to spread a little, I really don't feel like that's going to be a problem. It might be an issue if I had them near the property line, but they're not. The runners go out into the lawn, and I mow them off, and that's that. No problem. So far anyway. Perhaps I can update in a couple years to let you know if things get worse.

I've notice a couple of other bamboos here in town, but none that are much bigger than mine, so perhaps they're just always going to be sort of shrub sized.

Well, anyway. It's just something I'm trying, and I thought perhaps others would be interested to learn about how this enigmatic plant does here.

Bruce

Comments (8)

  • borderbarb
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bruce -- Great pictures. Have you tried cooking some of the shoots? A quick google found quite a few links.
    http://www.americanbamboo.org/FAQ.html
    Q. Can I eat the shoots?

    Bamboo shoots are usually cooked before eating as some may contain cyanogens. This is not a problem with most temperate bamboos, and most can be eaten without cooking if they are not too bitter. The only Phyllostachys known to have potentially toxic concentrations of cyanogens is Ph. heterocycla pubescens, also known as Ph. edulis and as Moso. Though it is the most important temperate bamboo for shoots, due to its early season, its size and the amount grown, it is usually somewhat bitter, and is always cooked before eating, Even though most bamboo growers often snack on some of the shoots while working with bamboo in the shooting season, eating a significant amount of raw shoots at one time might not be advisable unless one is sure of their safety. Properly prepared bamboo shoots are a safe, tasty and exotic addition to the table. The Washington State Extension Service has prepared a brochure about bamboo shoots (you will needAdobe Readerto view the file) with nutrition, preparation and storage information.

    Anyway might be fun to try..... that site also has a list of cold hardy bamboos ... but you've probably already seen that..... barb

  • amester
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the post, Bruce - I almost planted bamboo last year as a screen between me and my neighbors (the 6' privacy fence isn't quite cutting it). However, I had heard about how aggressively invasive bamboo is and since I have a smallish yard and little expendable energy I decided against it. Guess I shouldn't have worried!! :) They're still a pretty plant with great texture, though. I'm sorry they haven't gotten bigger for you. I do think I'll try some around the waterfall, plant it in a space where it can run (ha ha) if it wants to.
    I appreciate the post, gives me some food for thought on this snowy day.
    Stay warm!

  • ion_source_guy
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Barb, No I havent tried cooking or eating any shoots. I think it would set them back, and slow the over all growth if I did. That might make sense if the bamboo is in a hot wet climate where it grows huge, but here with my little bamboos barely gettin by, I dont think it would be worth it.

    I dont know how to cook Chinese anyway. The Chinese food I eat, usually comes with bamboo shoots already with it in a neat little white folding microwavable box.

    Amester, yes, I think the bamboo Ive grown would look really nice near a fountain or pond, particularly the Decora, which has very nice dark green shiny leaves. However, if your water feature relies on some kind or rubber liner to contain the water you might want to think twice. Ive seen some pictures of bamboo coming up through asphalt pavement, and the tips of the shoots are pretty hard and pointy. I wouldnt be surprised if they might be able to pierce one of those rubber liner things.

    Bruce

  • dirtboy58
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey Bruce,

    We planted three of the yellow groove one summer and the next year they grew maybe 4 or 5 feet, but not consistantly. Then when someone told me about it's invasive habit I couldn't sleep so I dug them up. Found runners underground 12 ft from the original plant after one year...wow. I even buried a one foot deep metal perimeter around the area, but it still either went under or right over it. I do love the plant's look. I understand it does bloom, but only every few years.

  • amester
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, Bruce, that IS a cautionary tale! We're going to be replacing a bathtub in the next year or so, maybe I'll just sink it and use it as a bamboo plot. :)
    The roots sound a lot like aspen roots - I spent the first two years of yardwork on excavating/chasing down runner roots from a dozen aspen we had all around the house...ick! I'll definitely do a serious root barrier if I decide to install bamboo. Great info, thanks!

  • ion_source_guy
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think you guys may be getting way too excited about bamboo spreading when planted in our region. Maybe thats a problem in other warmer, wetter climates, but so far it hasnt been an issue at all for me. The bamboos I have seem to send out a few runners the middle of May, and a few more around the end of August. The runners go out a distance about equal to half the height of the existing cormes (canes), skimming along just underneath, or just above the surface, hidden down in the grass. Then they suddenly turn up and stick straight up out of the grass and start to make a new cane. However, one chop from the lawn mower and theyre gone. Once the cane is chopped off once it does not seem to make repeated attempts to grow from there. Maybe if our winters were milder it would try to grow again from there the following spring, but even when I leave these runners in place hidden in the grass, nothing ever happens with them. They must be killed off in the winter, or maybe the plant gives up on them.

    Compared to my aspen trees, or compared to my neighbors raspberry patch, Id say these bamboo have not been invasive. Now, my neighbors dang seedless cotton tree!! Ughhhh, that thing is INVASIVE! It tries to send up shoots over half my front yard. And they never go away. They keep coming up from the same spots over and over and over again, all summer long. Even if I dig down to the main root theyre coming up from and chop it off, they will just come up from where ever I chopped it. Theres nothing I can do, except mow the lawn twice a week, so they never get big enough to stick up far above the grass. Every spring I dig a bunch of these roots out of my flower beds, and the next theyre back. Since my neighbor likes his 100 tree, theres nothing that can be done. Its just one of those thorns in life I just have to learn to live with.

    Based on my experience so far here in Fort Collins, Id say doing a bamboo runner barrier would be a waste of energy. I certainly wouldnt want to go so far as burying a bath tub. My goodness! Now, I dont think it would be a good plan to put bamboo right next to the vegetable patch or a flower bed, or right next to the property line, but at this point I really dont think its going to be an issue at all to have it in the yard, surrounded by lawn, bushes and trees.

    Well see. Ive only had mine 3 years now, so maybe it will become more of an issue if and when mine get bigger. Who knows..... maybe this spring my entire back yard is going to pop up with bamboo, but from observations so far, I seriously doubt that will happen and I seriously doubt it will ever even get to the point Id call this an invasive plant. (at least not for our climate anyway)

    Ill have to update you in a couple years, and let you know how it goes.

    Bruce

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Bruce,

    I dont want to turn this into another cottonwood/aspen rantbut I AM going to link one of the old RMG rants!

    Ever since I bought this house early in 04 Ive been battling these things, and over the years Ive come up with something that seems to work, so I thought Id let you in on my experiment results!

    I wont repeat all the stuff I said on that thread, but, first, even if your neighbor wanted to get rid of the tree, it only makes the situation worse. Once the "parent" tree is cut down, the suckers come up with a VENGEANCE! More about that in my 06.03.05 post!

    In April of 07 I resurrected the thread to report that using roundup on individual cottonwood suckers had been workingbut I was also killing a ring of grass around each sucker I sprayedand it was VERY labor intensive to try to spray the suckers without killing too much grass! And there were so many aspen suckers in my front yard that I couldnt use roundup on them without killing much of the grass!

    In July of 07 I did one more update to let everybody know that using Weed B Gon for suckers that were coming up in the grass worked very welland it continues to do so!

    My Final Plan included using Weed B Gon on any suckers coming up in grass, and using roundup on the suckers that came up in my perennial beds. To do that I cut the corner off of a plastic bag, pull the sucker up into the bag, and carefully (on a windless day) spray all the foliage inside of the bag, then fold the bag over and weight it down with something so the roundup doesnt "accidentally" get on the perennialswhich are often VERY close to the sucker. Closing up the bag also seems to help by "steaming" the sucker inside of the bag. When the sucker has completely browned, I pull the bag off and cut it off at or below the soil level.

    Since then Ive added another step to my faux eradication Plan! Now when Im digging to plant or dig up perennials and find a root thats bigger than about a half an inch, I dig the hole as big as I want/need it and then cut the root back to the side of the hole. Then I dig a little more soil out around the root, put a small baggie (non-zipper) over the end of the root, make sure the top/opening of the baggie is higher than the bottom which is around the end of the root, and pour a small amount of roundup over the end of the root into the plastic bag. Then I pack the top of the baggie shut with some of my nice heavy clay, plant what I want there, and fill the hole completely with (improved) soil. This, I have discovered, really seems to be a death knell for that particular rootnot that there arent a million-zillion more just waiting to make an appearance! But this method has successfully done-in the bigger roots that I had been spraying and/or cutting off ever since I moved in here.

    In case you cant tell, I have a BAD problem with cottonwood and aspen roots! The one neighbor behind me has THREE of them that are less than a foot away from my back fence. One of them has actually started moving the fence, and that same one is moving the (two-high) railroad ties that border the perennial bed that runs the whole way along the fence. The railroad ties that have found themselves in "a very moving position" are four and a half feet inside of the fence, so about 5 feet away from the tree! Mostly Im able to cut out the roots with a limb lopper, but Ive also cut out roots that were more than 3" in diameter, and I obviously had to saw them offincluding a few that were in my "escape-proof" garden which is between the back of my shed and my side fenceand is only about 20" wide! Its always fun working in there!

    In April 09, after years of cutting/spraying the suckers, I decided to apply a root mitigation program in my escape-proof garden! Here are some of the roots I cut out!

    And heres where they were cut out ofjust before "capping" the ends of the roots with plastic bags and pouring some roundup on them, and after refilling the hole with new soil! No suckers came up from these roots for the rest of the summer!

    And heres a picture of what I ran into when I was "trying" to dig up my Herrenhausen ornamental oregano to take along to the swap, and another one of some of the roots I had to dig out to plant my grape vinejust one, one-gallon plant!

    Ok! This has turned into another rant! I think Im justified! And after all the problems Ive had with cottonwood/aspen roots for well over 15 years now, I will definitely not be planting bambooor Virginia creeper or trumpet vine or mint or yarrow or gooseneck loosestrife (I LOVE the flowers!) or Mexican evening primrose or...............

    End of rantfor now!
    Skybird

  • ion_source_guy
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Skybird, thank you for sharing. I'll give it a try. Thank you for letting me benefit from your experiences and hard years of battle with the cottonwood and aspen suckers.

    Hey, sometimes there can be a deep satisfaction in good rant. I've been known to enjoy that myself. But I'd hardly call your post a rant. You're tone is way too sweet and non-confrontational to be a rant.

    Thanks

    Bruce

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