# Bamboo as a prep



## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

Has anyone considered growing bamboo as a prep for construction of fences, stables, outdoor fires and outdoor storage? There are varieties for just about any climate, grows quickly.. What are your thoughts?


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

I have thought about it, but it was passing. does it grow in any soil?


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## Hemi45 (May 5, 2014)

I planted bamboo at our last house to help shield against the blazing afternoon sun. It worked out great and was a beautiful addition to the yard. It also littered the neighbors swimming pool. They weren't exactly what you'd call 'good neighbors' so I didn't shed a tear but did make a mental note for the future. Running varieties can be problematic but there are some great clumping types that make an elegant living fence and the myriad of uses is undeniable.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

From what I understand they aren't particularly picky and if you live somewhere cold and snowy, they winter well with a hefty helping of mulch. I eventually want to move onto a homestead at some point and plant a fair amount just to figure out what works best and the other thing is, if too much grows too quickly you have a never ending supply of mulch.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

I've had two stands of river cane (reeds) in my yard for over 20 years. All they need is some water to grow. They can be very useful including stakes for plants.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Bamboo is one of those things that's very usefull but it can be the curse of man kind too. You herd the clumping type and the running type, both can quickly become a nuceinse right quick, although the running varieties are very bad and very fast spreading. Once established it is often very difficult to irradicate or keep it from spreading. In the south or places where the winters are not too long or severe, it can grow well often times able to grow as much as about a foot a day. I lived in Japan where it often grows in large patches and it is most useful over there and very rot risistent. The young tender shoots are also very delicious and probably one of my favorite foods ever!


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

very nice information here! do they attract bugs or vermin? palm trees in los angeles are notorious rat nests!


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

If it matters, I plan on moving to Wasilla, AK. As soon as I can and considering I want to have a sizable garden that I'd like to keep moose out of, I feel like it'd be a good material for fencing so I don't have to contend with rust and/or frostbite during a repair like I would with a steel fence and I have even heard of people stacking them like Lincoln logs after they've dried and planting shiitake spores into little holes they drill into the sides. That's something I'd like to look more into.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

I'm not sure about pests but I'm sure it depends on the region.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

Just had a thought too, imagine you get damage to a rain gutter and it lowers your catchment, cut it in half length wise, cut out the sectional ribs, and put some mesh over it and you've got a makeshift gutter. Also planting strawberries in the larger pieces cut the same way and elevated it lets the berries hang over the side for easier picking. Neighbors do that with old rain gutter. Works great. Fewer bugs too.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Bamboo has a lot of use but is invasive . Keep it under control. You may have issues growing in in some areas due to regulation.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

I don't think a bamboo fence is going to be much deterent to a full grown moose that sees your garden and wants to sample the shrubry. On the other hand that's a lot of beef to be putting up in the freezer though...just saying.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

Haha it's just a matter of keeping it high enough I've seen them clear barbed wire at 6' high but they're very much like cattle, the resistance of the fence is enough to dispirit them enough not to charge through. I mean, one cattle could take down about any fence if it got up some steam. I figure if I just kind of set it up like a high jump with 2x2 square mesh up to about 5 feet them a couple stalks of bamboo it'd do the trick. What if I we're repurpose old bath tubs or other large containers to grow it in? If I keep a clumping species in it's own container, it shouldn't be invasive should it? I figure I'd be harvesting rather often and probably won't let the germinate until the end of summer so I could harvest seed, but I don't know. I'd love to hear from someone with experience. I could always go the greenhouse route.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I've toyed with the idea of starting bamboo for use in bowyery.
It makes an absolutely amazing backing when paired with a good hardwood like Hickory.
However, the piece to be used has to meet certain specifications, and to get those specs, you need a very wide stalk.
I've not been able to pin down a variety that would offer a 4-5 inch diameter stalk.
Any info would be appreciated.


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

You can grow bamboo anywhere but you cannot stop it. So unless you need an ever-growing ever-expanding forest of Bamboo do not start.

Or have a bunch of Panda bears to feed.


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## redhawk (May 7, 2014)

I have wanted to grow some for years, but I hear the clumping bamboo still spreads pretty badly...still, I want to give it a try.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

I watched a few videos today about it and the creeping variety looks just plain out out control sending shoots out rather far. The clumping varieties I saw get to around 7 feet across and like 40 feet tall but the guy was using them as a wind break. When I get my plot I will make a 8x8x4 basin and line it with with concrete or just something to minimally contain it and see how it does for a couple years. If it get out of hand I'll hit it with herbicide and toss it on the bun pile. The bonuses I saw were that it's leaves are crazy plentiful and make great mulch. But we will just have to see how it shakes out.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

It's pretty hard to pass up a seemingly endless lumber yard.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

brilton said:


> When I get my plot I will make a 8x8x4 basin and line it with with concrete or just something to minimally contain it and see how it does for a couple years. If it get out of hand I'll hit it with herbicide and toss it on the bun pile. The bonuses I saw were that it's leaves are crazy plentiful and make great mulch. But we will just have to see how it shakes out.


That's what I read to do. Dig a hole, line it with cinder blocks or concrete, and fill it back in to start growing. This will help to contain the underground collume (sp?) that the shoots spring out from.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

Oh sweet. I'm new at all this but if you can mitigate the risk, it just seems ridiculously logical to grow it and store it, and sell the extra for something like 25¢ a foot on craigslist or something.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

I've had two stands of river cane in my yard for 25 years. The roots expand out producing tubers like potatoes. New stalks rise from those new tubers. So you need to harvest stalks every year from the outter ring to keep it under control. Yes, its that simple to control. And if you want to start a stand you get tubers & not stalks.


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

Is yours the running type or the clump type?


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Mine is river cane/reeds


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I have no personal experience with growing bamboo, but the people who have, all give the same advice----don't.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

Hmmm. I have some wet lands near by. 
I have nurtured a poplar in my front yard and will transplant it along a tree line... maybe I should put some bamboo out there too?
I have been asking the nurseries around my area for bamboo and they don't carry it. I also want to make trekking stick for me and my grand kids.

Where do people go to buy bamboo?


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## brilton (Aug 7, 2012)

I'd imagine you could find a fair amount of suppliers online.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Bamboo is a grass as it grows from the root and not the top. When you cut the stalk will grow leaving the cut as the top. It spreads like all grasses, by sending out runners that take root and grow. It is impervious to most herbicides and will grow in just about any soil from arid desert to rain forest. It is not easy to restrain or train. I have seen bamboo break a concrete "pot" (a 3" thick concrete trough) that was buried in the ground to contain it. You might be able to contain it in a stainless steel lined garden bed but I wouldn't count on it. A broken limb that sticks in the ground will root and grow like a cottonwood tree. I know that Ortho TriOx compound used to be able to kill it but it is a relative of Agent Orange and is no longer sold. I don't know if there is a chemical sold today that will kill it. 

If you want to havest bamboo then find someone who planted it for lanscaping purposes and tell them that you will try to keep it under control for them. You can harvest all you want and then come back in six months and repeat the process - and it will continue to grow out and up. Even if you dig it up if there is a single broken root it will grow back. 

If you still want to grow it think about having 30 foot tall crabgrass. Think about how hard it is to control that and multiply it by 60.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

The bamboo in my neighbor's yard is unstoppable. He picks and pulls it until he renders the ground into a bare patch of soil that looks like it was been tilled for garden. 

The bamboo can grow five feet high in may, if he picks it in june, it will be t feet high again it late july early august.....so he picks it again and again and agin.

It was kinda nice because it provides some decent privacy between our yards, but it is encrouching and killing some nut bearing trees that he is trying to grow.

I would not plant some so agressive unless you are willing to plant it on an elevated patch of land so as the roots attempt to spread, the will extend out the side of the island where you can readily crop them before they spead. This beats the idea of trenching hands down


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

It doesn't matter what you do you can not stop it. You can put cinder blocks down but eventually they will get through, under or between. My neighbor had some and we tried everything to stop/kill it. Not even roundup worked! We tried vinegar, salt, digging it up, cutting the shoots as they came up, burning it with gasoline and digging out the roots. It seemed to send out more roots when we cut off the new shoots. If you miss one tiny piece it will come back. Moral of the story, if you plant it be ready for it to be plentiful in any type of soil. It does make an excellent windbreak, sunscreen, and is pretty to look at. DO NO plant it anywhere close to your septic system.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

I heard anything short of tarping the ground for several years won't work


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

There is lots of bamboo close by to us. We go and cut some to use in the garden to stake green beans, pole beans, etc.

One thing you never want to do, is to burn bamboo. It reacts like fireworks!!  No kidding. We burned a row of them after the gardening was done.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

BagLady said:


> One thing you never want to do, is to burn bamboo. It reacts like fireworks!!  No kidding. We burned a row of them after the gardening was done.


COOL!!! Thanks for the tip!!!! WOO HOO!!!


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Inor said:


> COOL!!! Thanks for the tip!!!! WOO HOO!!!


Want me to send you some?


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

BagLady said:


> Want me to send you some?


If old bamboo will work, I have plenty of that. Otherwise, HELL YEAH!!!


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

brilton said:


> If it matters, I plan on moving to Wasilla, AK. As soon as I can and considering I want to have a sizable garden that I'd like to keep moose out of, I feel like it'd be a good material for fencing so I don't have to contend with rust and/or frostbite during a repair like I would with a steel fence and I have even heard of people stacking them like Lincoln logs after they've dried and planting shiitake spores into little holes they drill into the sides. That's something I'd like to look more into.


It doesn't to us, but it may to you. I urge you to watch Alaska State Troopers on cable. It's a gold mine of info about some of the high crime rate areas. For instance, I remember that Palmer and southeast Fairbanks are both places that require a gun and a very good home security system.


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