Thursday, December 11, 2008
Symon asked me why I hadn't blogged in awhile, and I mentioned it was because A, I'm super busy at the moment, and B, I don't have anything exciting to talk about. So I decided it was time to do go on google and find something! Here goes...
When I was tidying up my Onerahi house a few weeks ago so I could get some tenants in, I discovered some bamboo in the front garden that I thought I'd got rid of 6 months ago. Now I know bamboo is a pain in the neck and it takes a lot to get rid of but here's some really cool boring facts I found out:
There are some 2,000 species of bamboo which can be virtually indistinguishable from each other, but which do grow in a wide range of climates. Depending on your location, there are species that will grow in temperatures that drop as low as -20F. If you start out with the right type of bamboo for your temperatures, soil composition and moisture, you can soon be enjoying a lush, "exotic" greenery that will grow and spread faster than you could ever have imagined. Bamboo plants grow on rhizomes, a network of roots that run along under the ground, and put up new shoots to start other clumps of culms, or stalks. The clump will grow to its maximum height, usually within the first season, and then will sprout additional branches. That first season can be quite a surprise though, when you see an eight inch diameter stalk reaching 60 ft. In scientifically controlled conditions, stalks have been known to grow as much as 47 inches in one day. However in the average garden or the wild, 12 inches a day would be closer to the norm.
12 inches a day! Crikey! No wonder it's a menace in the garden. While on my google travels I also found this site here that is actually dedicated to promoting and growing bamboo. Why anyone in their right mind would actually want to promote it I don't know but each to their own I guess.
So to conclude this riveting post, here are some top tips from the Yates website to keeping your bamboo under control or getting rid of it altogether. Wish I'd read this before I did my garden! Enjoy.
- To stop bamboo spreading uncontrollably, plant bamboo pieces for your screen or hedge in a trench lined on either side with sheet metal or hardboard. The barrier need not go deeper than about 45cm as bamboos are shallow rooted but may spread naturally by underground stems or rhizomes.
- To eradicate bamboo that has got out of hand, cut the canes down to ground level, and spray them with a strong solution of glyphosate herbicide, such as Roundup or Zero. Any suckers which emerge later should be similarly treated, but be careful not to let the spray drift onto other plants.
