On Saturday Chris and I ventured out to meet Sean of Bamboo Geek and his wife. They were having a bamboo sale, and since I was in the market for some bamboo, I figured what better time to talk to an expert and recycle my money within the regional community.
After telling Sean my requirements, (10-20 feet tall at most, clumping only, canes I can cut and use in the garden), he selected 'Alphonse Karr' for us, and gave us one of the best specimens he had in a container!
This is what it's expected to look like in a few years, hopefully...
Click to visit this site and see larger view
This should provide a nice screen in place of a misshapen Callery Pear that we plan to cut down this winter (we will be keeping and reusing many of the long branches as garden stakes and whatnot!).
It will also give our neighbors shade just as the Callery (Bradford) Pear does now.
It should cut down on the sound transmission between our houses, a benefit to each of us!
I'm really excited about this bamboo, and this is no small feat considering I used to despise bamboo. Little did I know that I didn't like running bamboo because of its propensity to spread rapidly (not a good thing in the land of the suburbs on 1/4 acre lots).
So thank you Sean for your knowledge and help in selecting the perfect bamboo for our application. And a double thanks for teaching me to like bamboo!
Sep 1, 2008
Meeting a Fellow Blogger in Person
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11 comments:
Yay! Welcome to the bamboo club. I hope it takes off for you guys--you will use it for a million more things in the garden than you ever thought you would.
Pretty cool that you got it from another blogger, too!
Isn't it great meeting fellow bloggers? I love swapping seeds as well as stories.
I had no idea there was even a kind of bamboo that won't take over your property.
Glad you enjoyed your visit.
That is so grand when you meet another blogger. Looks like that bamboo is going to do the trick for privacy. And it grows fast too right?
I love bamboo! We had loads of it in our Geyserville garden, and Meg is totally right: you will use it for all kinds of things you never thought about!
New bamboo shoots really only grow where you water. So if you don't want your bamboo to spread, don't water on the edges of the bamboo patch. And if it still spreads, just harvest from the edges!
That is awesome! I love bamboo, and have been wanting it for some time now. My mom and dad use to grow it before my dad cut it down. One day he just got bored and mowed it over with the lawn mower! Yes, they are still married and just celebrated their 28 anniversary! Love the blog!
You should visit my blog some time!
vioboy.blogspot.com
~Zach
I had Alphonse at my SoCal house, along with Mexican Weeping and Giant Timber (All clumping). I loved them. Now in my current police state neighborhood they are all forbidden along with palms and most other reminders of my former life.
I bet you will try more bamboos,particularly now that you know the bamboo geek.
Hey Katie,
Thanks for the great post and it was great to finally meet you in person. I'm sure you could tell from my backyard why I am called a Bamboo Geek. When your ready for more bamboo, let me know. Watch out.... its addictive.
Sean @ Bamboo Geek
www.madmanbamboo.com
Wow. You can grow some exotic shit down there in Cali.
Here in Montana, we buy bamboo in pint glasses for $10 as housewarming presents and they get all creepy and rooty and yellowish.
Bamboo. How cool.
Nice looking bamboo. I saw your note on Twitter today, so came on over to say hi. I have a blog too, with lots of garden & other stuff.
Oh my gosh I am so behind on comments! Sorry everyone!
meg - Between you guys and Sean, I'm converted.
matron - I have met so many wonderful people, I have friends all over the US and elsewhere! (Always a couch to crash on too!)
ceecee - I didn't either, but Sean has educated me well over the past year with his blog.
anna - If watered properly, this bamboo should grow relatively quickly. Thankfully we like our neighbor that we share the fence with, so it's no biggie if it's small for a couple years.
melinda - Thanks for the bamboo tips!
Zach - Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. I guess bamboo is a grass so therefore it can be cut with a lawnmower (haha!). I am headed over to your blog after I catch up on my comments here. Welcome!
ralph - Let's hope the plant police don't turn into the tought police....thanks for sharing your story about the AK bamboo from the old haunt.
Sean - You are now my bamboo "dealer".
dig this chick - You're telling me there is no bamboo that will grow in MT? You should check.... I hate that "lucky" bamboo that you can buy in the grocery store as a gift - did you know that isn't even bamboo?
terra - Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment (yay Twitter!). I will head over to check your site out as well once I'm caught up over here. Welcome!
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