Archived Appalachian Bamboo News and Pictures

March 29th, 2015: Spring is just around the corner. We have had some 70 degree days but this weekend temperatures were in the 20's reminding us of the extreme fluctuations possible here in the mountains. It has been very busy here this spring with lots of field dug. I will probably need a chiropractor after this last load of 55 field dug, 45 Yellow Groove and 10 Nigra Henon. Here is a pic.  I was up on the loader looking down at the dump truck.

Also snapped a few more pics while i was at it. This one is the boys red wagon. They like to play in the Henon grove

Here is a good example of how even a thin screen (only about 6 feet deep) can be effective. This is yellow groove

And finally one more load. This was 10 spectabilis field dug. I was in the process of wrapping it for transport. Thanks to everyone that makes Appalachian Bamboo possible.

February 24th 2015: Been a while since an update, but a snow day is a good time. Got about 5 inches of snow this morning and it is still coming down. No work and no school!! We have had some very cold patches this winter. Looks like the moso and the black bamboo groves are completely top killed (which isnt a big surprise, they just arent as cold hardy as the rest) They will come back from the roots in the spring though. I couldnt bring myself to go out in the snow so i snapped a few pictures from the house. The first one is the front yard you can see a circular grove of yellow groove in the center. Despite the cold it is thick and green. Yellow groove is very cold hardy. On the right next to the trampoline is a grove of Nigra Henon. It has also held up great in the cold. It is probably the most cold hardy giant bamboo there is.

above is a grove of Humilis above a retaining wall. It is a smaller growing bamboo but very cold hardy.

 

August 29th: Had several visitors this summer but only remembered pictures this week. David and his wife drove over from Tennessee and picked up about a dozen large field dug Yellow Groove. These will give them a good start on a privacy screen.

 

May 30th: I have been meaning all spring to do an update but sometimes time is like squeezing a handful of water. After a very cold winter I was left with a lot of leaf damage on the less cold hardy types. My black bamboo groves were completely top killed and several other groves had all the leaves killed. All have recovered and are putting up new shoots, however. Snapped some pics of a few spring shoots.

Some huge nigra henon shoots the cane on the right is nearly 4 inches in diameter. Below are some Green Stripe Vivax shoots with some very interesting patterns. The one on the right is nearly 5 inches in diameter.

 

 

February 13th: Big snow last night and early this morning. The weight of snow will make bamboo fall over but rarely does it break the canes. Typically they will pop right back up when the snow melts. Even if some canes do break they will be replaced in the spring. Was out early playing in the snow with the kids and took some pictures. In the first one a grove of Yellow Groove is lying over in the pond. It is down but not out.

I went underneath the bamboo grove and took some pictures. It had formed a solid canopy type roof, almost like a cave.

Not really bamboo but the duck didnt seem to mind the snow. There is a small grove of giant japanese timber bamboo in the background. It is almost lying flat.

Heading back to the house after sledding

 

February 8th: Well not much going on this winter it has been so ridiculously cold and nasty that we have pretty much been hibernating and hoping for spring to come early. The extra cold weather (we were down to negative 5 a couple nights) has caused a lot of leaf burn to most of my bamboo. The less cold hardy types such as black bamboo, moso, and Robert Young look to be almost completely top-killed. They will, however, come back from the roots in the spring, but i always hate to see the carnage. The cold hardy types such as Yellow Groove, Dwarf David Bissett, Nuda, etc. are fine. They have only a bit of leaf burn on the edges of the leaves. I have made one observation this winter.. Most literature ranks Nuda as the most cold hardy Phylo. This year it hasn't held up nearly as well as Yellow Groove. I would suggest a re-ranking and put Yellow Groove and Dwarf David Bissett higher on the cold hardy scale. Maybe Nuda at negative 8 and Yellow Groove at negative 12.

With all the cold weather and snow Ive been wondering how everyone else's bamboo is holding up. Feel free to email me an update at gohooper4@frontier.com One tip for the heavy snow is to leave the bamboo buried. The snow will protect it from the cold and damaging winds. Hopefully I will get some pictures of the devastation in the next few days. ~Gabe

 

November 15th: Had some more visitors this fall but as usual forgot to get pictures. Had a cold snap last week with temperatures in the low teens. Had to bring some of the more sensitive varieties into the greenhouse. Less cold hardy types include Moso, Black, Arrow, and Robert Young. The really cold hardy types such as Yellow Groove I can leave outside in pots for the whole winter (unless it just gets abnormally cold and decides to stay that way for weeks) Took a picture of some canes of Robert Young below. These started out totally green this spring and have turned yellow, leaving only random green stripes. This is a fairly new variety for me. Ive had the grove about 5 years and had never dug any for sale until this year.

September 13th: Visit today from Cara and her husband. My twin boys took the opportunity to get in the picture as well. They had 5 large field dug Henon which should give a good start come spring. It was nice to meet them and thanks to my dad for reminding to get a picture

 

September 10th: Well it has been a busy summer and I havent gotten to update as much as I would like. I have had several visitors but my chronic forgetfulness didnt allow me to get pictures. I was up in my dad's pasture where I have a few groves planted and noticed something was stripping all the leaves that were reachable from the bamboo. After much searching I found the culprit!

So I had to build some makeshift fences around the groves until I can get the smaller plants dug and potted

Threw in a random pick of a small stream with groves on either side and a thick groundcover bamboo on the right side. I like how these different size bamboo create a lot of variety along the stream.

 

June 2nd: It rained hard last night and all this morning. It was getting a bit dry so Im sure the bamboo and the garden are appreciative. One of my boys and I were walking around taking a few pictures after the rain stopped. Many of the shoots that came out of the ground only a few weeks ago are over 20 feet tall. Many of the Green Stripe Vivax canes you see here are 5 inches in diameter.

Here's a bit closer shot

Still a lot of water standing in a low spot. The grove on the left is Yellow Groove and the right is P. Nigra Shimadake.

Check out how thick this Yellow Groove

And finally another pic of the awesome screening power of bamboo the area behind the pool has a wall of green.

 

May 11th: Shoots everywhere!! Nearly everything is shooting now. Snapped a few pictures this morning. The first (on the left) is P. Nuda, which has some of my favorite shoots. These first poked out of the ground just a few weeks ago and are now over 10feet tall. The picture on the right is a Green Stripe Vivax. The shoot is about 4 inches in diameter.

 

Here are some Moso Shoots from a small grove (picture below on the left). Notice how the shoots are already taller than the original plants. More GSV shoots on the right

 

 

April 20th: Sue and Dave, from Missouri and their friends from Tennessee came out to visit today. Like almost everyone before them they almost got here on the first try. We live way out in the country and GPS only gets you close. They picked up Henon, Yellow Groove, and Sasa Palmatta. Was nice to meet them.

April 6th: Loaded up the dump truck with over 40 field dug specimens of Yellow Groove, Nuda, and Humilis. Half the plants went to Alan in Weaverville, NC and the the other half went to Carl in Asheville, NC. Both had beautiful homes and were looking for a screen. Hopefully in a few years they will obtain the desired results. Thanks to both for choosing Appalachian Bamboo it was nice to meet you.

 

March 30th: Visit from Jeff and Susan. They drove over from Jonesborough, TN to pick up several field dug specimens that included: Spectabilis, Shimadake, Black, Red Margin. Even though I am out of some of these for shipping purposes I can still dig field dug. It was nice to meet them and I hope the bamboo does well.

March 23rd: Had 2 visits today but i forgot to get pictures on the first one... was a great family from Georgia... I hate forgetting! Here's the second Colby and Tyler came all the way from Arkansas to pick up 10 big field dug. 8 Henon, 1 GSvivax, and 1 Yellow Groove. They also got my last two pots of Nigra Bory (Snakeskin)

March 16th, 2013: Feels like spring this weekend. Gary and Emma came over from Sweetwater, Tennessee today. They picked up some Yellow Groove and Black Bamboo. Its always fun to have folks come and tour the bamboo. Lots more visits scheduled

 

February 3rd, 2013: Snow. We got a little snow today so we went out play around. Snapped some pictures of various bamboo in the snow. Here is a grove of black bamboo. The wind had already blown the snow off the leaves by the time we got outside.

Here's some nigra 'bory' sometimes called snakeskin bamboo due to the mottled pattern on the canes. I love this type. My grove is just now getting big enough that I am going to start digging some divisions.

This pic was off the front deck while the snow was still coming down. You can see a grove of Yellow Groove near the pond.

Walking back toward the green house. The road goes right between a grove of Nigra Henon and a Grove of Yellow Groove. Behind the greenhouse in the distance you can see a wall of Green Stripe Vivax.

 

 

January 14th, 2013: A new year. Took a few pictures that demonstrated how well Bamboo can be utilized as a privacy screen. In this picture the bamboo wall on the left has effectively screened out 200 feet of road leaving the pool area with complete privacy. This screen is actually made up of 3 different types of bamboo. Dwarf David Bissett, Nuda, and Green Stripe Vivax

Here is another screen that is about 75 feet wide. This is comprised of Nigra Henon and Green Stripe Vivax. This screen is very dense and is about 25 feet tall

 

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