MrNorth
Cool Member
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 1:50 pm

Some help/advice regarding bamboo

Hi!

Today I got really concerned with my bamboo, they all look really bad.. PLease look at these pics:

[url=https://img394.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bamboo11gu.jpg][img]https://img394.imageshack.us/img394/91/bamboo11gu.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://img239.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bamboo23od.jpg][img]https://img239.imageshack.us/img239/7602/bamboo23od.th.jpg[/img][/url]
Btw, any tips/ideas how to make this area look more interesting? I feel something is missing... Or perhaps its just the green bamboo that is lacking??

[url=https://img239.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bamboo32jc.jpg][img]https://img239.imageshack.us/img239/7910/bamboo32jc.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bamboo47gh.jpg][img]https://img489.imageshack.us/img489/8417/bamboo47gh.th.jpg[/img][/url]

They looked really nice and green and fresh during the autumm, but now when the winter has passed they look yellow and boring? I know the winter has been really bad here (the worst for 30 years), but I know bamboo are really resilient species. Is there anything I can do, except wait and see what happens when spring arrives?

I live in zone 1, coastal climate, southern part of sweden.

It looks like my fargesia (not on pic) have survived the winter better then these phyllostachus

I also checked this link
https://www.junglegiants.co.uk/acatalog/Phyllostachys_bissettii.html
And it says that this bamboo will look fresh all year around... and that got me even more nervous!!!

I don't think there is a problem with water, because it has been raining like mad all year, only a few days this year has been hot and dry (sunny +15 C) Perhaps it is the cold and the snow?


kind regards
Henrik

User avatar
koiboy01
Senior Member
Posts: 171
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:49 pm
Location: U K

Hi Henrik,
They are not starting to flower are they, as a couple of years back mine flowered and then died but the best part was I got hundreds of seeds and finished up giving bamboo plants away I had that many.
They do say that bamboo's flower and die after 100 years.
all I know is that mine did flower and then die,
George.

MrNorth
Cool Member
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 1:50 pm

Hi, I'm aware of the floers, but this is not the case with my bamboos :) I'm sure of it. Perhaps it is teh sun during the winter that caused them to dry out? But I am sure that as soon as it will be warm here, the bamboo will develop new leaves and drop the yellow ones? Or do I have to pick them off by hand? What does the helpful gardener say?

/henrik

opabinia51
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 4659
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

Hi Mr. North;

there is a thread in the organics forum on organic bamboo care. Check it out.

MrNorth
Cool Member
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 1:50 pm

Hi!

I have checked on the forums, but it doesnt seem to me any problems with sickness on my bamboos. I think its because of the harsh winter, and hopefully now when it is getting warm again, and I will give them plenty of water, they will start to grow again!!!

/Henrik

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Henrik has answered his own post most correctly. I am suprised it has done as well as it has as the genus is not that hardy. Do you know what cultivar it is Henrik?

s

MrNorth
Cool Member
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 1:50 pm

Hi!

The past days in sweden the weather has been really sunny and warm +23 C. I have given this bamboo about 10 L of water every day, hoping that I will start to see some explosive growth, like I did last year when I bought it. But it looks like its sleeping... not much is happening. Where is the best place to check if the bamboo is indeed alive or dead, and when should I sxpect to see some real growth?

And what about the yellow leaves? Will the bamboo drop them like other decidious trees do, or do I have to rip them off by myself? Because it doesnt look so nice and fresh, with lots of yellow leaves on a bamboo...

/Henrik - very nervous and concerned

MrNorth
Cool Member
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 1:50 pm

Oh by the way, the bambooo that is the most yellow in my pic is the

Phyllostachys aureo-sulcata 'Spectabilis'...

kind reagrds
Henrik

MaineDesigner
Green Thumb
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am
Location: Midcoast Maine, Zone 5b

Henrik, your bamboo probably has recovered by now. I think your diagnosis of winter damage was correct. I am not that familiar with European zone ratings or the climate of southern Sweden but it seems to me that once established Phyllostachys bissetti should do well there. You might try applying an antidesicant spray for winter. Apply it as late as possible in the fall or winter but when temps are above 4C. It may require a second application if you have a warm enough day in early to mid February. You also could try to shield it from desicating winter winds. Bamboo, like most grasses, benefits from some nitrogen fertilizer in the spring.

Phyllostacys actually is a quite hardy bamboo genus and bissetti is one of the most hardy species within that genus. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (U.S. Zone 4A, lows to -34C)) has Phyllostachys in their Japanese Garden and although many of the culms die back at least to the snow line it is root hardy even in that severe climate. Once established I would expect very little or no culm die back in the climate of Southern Sweden which appears to be U.S. Zone 6 or 7. New plantings are always a bit more susceptible to winter damage.



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