Of all the bamboos we’ve tried this one did the best over the cold winter of 2009-2010 and 2017/2018.
This is a very tightly clumping bamboo, with culms 2″ in diameter and a maximum height of about 40′. The canes are supposed to be whitish-blue, they just look green so far. That may change in time. The leaves are dense so it makes a great privacy screen.
Bamboo loves sun, water and heat. I find it grows best in July, Aug and Sept.
Despite loving water, all of ours did well through the drought and watering ban last summer. I think the roots go deep enough to stay well watered. This was the only bamboo we have that did not die back after the frosts.
I find mealy bugs like the bamboo, blasting them off with the garden hose takes care of them.
Thrived in the heat and drought of the summer of 2011.
This one has been especially popular with the neighbors, several have inquired about it as a screen between homes and along the street for houses backing up to it.
The older this bamboo gets the less the hard frosts bother it. Last winter we had a string of several nights dip down into the high teens. The leaves died, a few stalks died, but it’s been filling back out.
Trimming bamboo is easier than it looks in the photos. Take a Sawzall or a bolt cutter or loper and cut culms at ground level. Then cut the removed stalks into 4′ sections and use them for crafts or bag for the recycling center. It took about 2 hours to cut 80 stalks and pile them in the driveway, it’ll take 2 or 3 tomorrow to cut them up.
About a month after thinning the weather became windier than usual. Random stalks started leaning over enough to impede cars. We’ve put a strap around the bamboo that we hope will stop it. Sun fade and mold should make the strap less obvious over time. It looks much neater this way, I was considering it before the stalks leaned into the road. The strap is a ‘Ratchet Tie-Down’ they are easy to find at any large hardware store. This one is ‘Keeper, 2″x30’ Chrome Ratchet Tie Down.
After all this time, (late summer 2019) it was time for the bamboo to go. It was shading out several trees and it was just time for a change. I have the tree guys cut it to the ground a couple of months ago. The front is being redone. More photos as the new stuff fills in a bit.
The bamboo appears to have gone quietly into the night. A few grass like clumps appear here and there and I cut them back to ground.
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Did your emerald bamboo make it through our long cold spellls this past winter?
Yes, one died back to the ground and is reappearing, the second one wintered over with no troubles.