Bamboo in Tropical North Dakota (Far southern Canada)

[Underwor]

Anyone have any ideas of cold hardy bamboo that could be used in landscaping. I saw a fellow digging out a large clump a couple of years ago, before we got the bright idea to try it in the parks. Have no idea what kind he had, but it was growing like crazy on the NW corner of his house.

We look up things like this around here when it is 0 F so that we feel warmer!!!

 

[Tucker943]

The hell with bamboo...... stay away from that crap.

 

[MasterBlaster]

And banana plants!

 

[Tucker943]

Look, I know a thing or two about bamboo. Its bad juju. Leave it alone, walk away from it, delete this thread. You'd be better off drinking and driving at the police station. There's 2 things you don't want to do with bamboo. That's dig it, and burn it.

 

[Maximalist]

That's dig it, and burn it.

Bamboo is so dangerous?

 

[Tucker943]

Digging it is risking a broken ankle, and when you burn it, it pops and bursts.

 

[OTGBOSTON]

I'd bet you are thinking about japanese knotweed...it is so invasive it will grow through six inches of blacktop. You don't want that stuff in your parks.

 

[Al Smith]

It'll grow but it's just about like pampas grass ,really invasive .

 

[woodworkingboy]

I have bamboo. The pigeons love to roost up in there and make soft sounds. Pleasing to look at in the wind and to hear the rustling sound it makes. Invasiveness before your very eyes, but cutting it and painting the cuts with Roundup can keep it under control. I give the new shoots to people that like to eat them.

 

[Al Smith]

Well it is a grass on steriods ,kind of .I never gave much thought as it being a food source though .

Pandas eat it but that's kind of a situation where a meat eater has adapted to other sources of food and it passes though them rather quickly .They just chew it up and shat out tooth picks .They must have some tough innards about like a camal or elephant .

 

[Underwor]

These are to be planted in the zoo as a source of snacks for the critters.

 

[pantheraba]

LOTS of good info here: http://www.bamboo.org/index.php


and a tool that helps find the species that is right for what you want: http://bamboo.org/BambooSourceList/BambooSelector.php

 

[Bodean]

There's probably a higher altitude sps of bamboo. something from Korea maybe to handle that cold weather.

 

[pantheraba]

I bought my Moso bamboo from these folks: http://www.lewisbamboo.com/growth-chart.html

We watch it shoot up each spring...it will be erupting through the ground any day now.

I planted my Moso about 8 years ago...it was about thumb thick. Now it is larger than a Quaker oatmeal box. We love it...my grandsons and their cousins love to play in it. We have a owl roosting in the Moso now...I got to introduce the boys to owl pellets full of little mouse bones and feathers.

Yes, it can get out of hand but it can also be beautiful (kind of like a good wife )

 

[pantheraba]

There's probably a higher altitude sps of bamboo. something from Korea maybe to handle that cold weather.

You are right...I remember reading that it grows on the slopes of the Himalayas...there are some very hardy species.

The Umbrella Bamboo is good to -20F and is a favorite food of the Pandas.

http://bamboodirect.com/bamboo/catalog/mountainctlg.html

 

[MasterBlaster]

Pretty cool!

 

[rumination]

Great website Gary, I think I can find one there to plant on my land in NM. Thanks!

 

[pantheraba]

HA! Desert bamboo...who'd a thunk it?

 

[Al Smith]

You know this bamboo business I think they still build bamboo scaffalding in some of the Pacific rim countries .They claim it makes a better scaffolding that the usual metal type we often see .

 

[woodworkingboy]

You haven't heard of bamboo shoots in Chinese food, Al? Markets with Chinese food sections will often have it in cans. The young shoots are tender. i'm not so keen on it myself, but no problem giving it away.

Awesome bamboo for stateside, Gary. The black bamboo is real pretty, and I don't thing it becomes nearly as invasive, if at all. Relatively small diameter from what I have seen.

 

[pantheraba]

Jay, you are exactly right. I have a patch of black bamboo planted, started the same time as the Moso, only about 60 feet away. It does grow much slower and ultimately only gets to 20-30 feet. It is just now, after 7-8 years, getting to be a size large enough that I can use it (approx. 1.5 in. diameter). It is a very aesthetic bamboo, graceful to see.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Gary, has the black stuff spread at all?

By the way, if you use the bamboo, rubbing it out with fine steel wool, the kind used in woodworking, then a light oil finish makes for a pretty shine and softens up the feel a bit.

 

[pantheraba]

Yes, it has spread slowly, should be easy to control it. I'll get more pictures next time I am there.

Thanks for the steel wool and light oil tips...have not tried that yet. I clean/wash it with Scotchbrite to remove dirt and it brightens up very well (green and black boo)...have not oiled it yet.

I do have a piece of Burmese bamboo (aka Calcutta bamboo, I think) that has been treated like that and it is holding up very well...I hope to grow some of it one day..a VERY strong bamboo.

Will check in later...headed out to do some tree work today.

 

[rumination]

HA! Desert bamboo...who'd a thunk it?

My place is actually I guess what you would call "high desert". About 8000 feet elevation in the foothills of the 13,000 foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, which are essentially the southern Rockies. I'm on the border of the juniper/pinon/ponderosa forest breaking into the aspen/fir/spruce forest. Last frost is around the end of May, first frost can be in September, although my friends with a farm down in a valley bottom near me had a hard frost on August 5th a couple years ago.

Al, they still build giant skyscrapers with bamboo scaffolding here in Hong Kong. Really cool stuff.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Tonkin cane is what the bamboo fly rod makers seem to prefer. Thick walled and very tough apparently, with minimal defects due to bugs. Pretty much out of groves in one part of China, but I believe growable in some areas of the US.