We planted bamboo for the quick cover it provides, but soon learned to appreciate this amazing plant. Bamboo lovers can't wait until the plants put up shoots in the spring. April and May reveal the bounty that is just the beginning of the spectacular show these plants put on. We started with a few plants (see the Bamboo page on this blog), and now have almost full cover.
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| Initial planting, spring 2011 |
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| Spring, 2013 before shooting |
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| June, 2013, after shooting |
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| Side fence, 2011- no bamboo yet |
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| June 2013, after shooting |
Bamboo sometimes bends, then straightens out, leaving a "crooked" culm. I have not been able to find a solid explanation for this. Some suggestions are that it allows them to move toward sun or that they bend when they are top heavy. My husband thinks it might allow them to adapt to windy conditions. We lost several culms to high winds in this volatile spring.
I think the bends may be due to the shoots being too top heavy. One of my 15ft atrovaginata shoots got a bend at around the 12ft mark and snapped off perhaps as a result of too much rain in the past 2 weeks, but its OK since it wasn't the tallest one.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you will have a mixed screen in another year.
Thanks, Steve. Seems to be a mystery of the bamboo world. My husband suspects it might help them avoid wind breakage. We have also heard it could be a way to reach toward sun.
ReplyDelete