This was a difficult winter for some plants. We saw severe wind burn on most of the bamboo. Top kill on others. Holly and pine were also wind burned. Other plants such as some yews and a witch hazel were completely killed. Some trees like our Korean Maples and Japanese Zelkova experienced twig damage. The…
Clumping Bamboo – The Facts You Might Not Know
Clumping bamboo sounds like a great idea. I mean, a bamboo that doesn’t spread. That sounds amazing, right? It can be amazing. It all depends on where you live and what you expect from the plant. If you live in a region where it never gets any colder than about 27ºF then you can grow…
Handmade Japanese Soaps – Bamboo Soap and More
In our never-ending quest to do more with bamboo we came upon the idea of making bamboo soap using our own bamboo. We didn’t limit ourselves to only bamboo soap. We also have sea salt bars, activated charcoal and pine resin bars, and apricot oil soap bars. There’s even a Japanese Crane shaped ginger soap….
Choosing a Bamboo Species Based on Cold Hardiness & Application
Listed below are bamboo species suitable for hedges and screens.They are in order of most cold hardy based on our observations in our region. The ones nearer the top of the list top kill less frequently than those nearer to the bottom. All have survived -20ºF and returned from the roots.The growth habit of each…
Bamboo Planting Configurations
Featured here are some bamboo planting configurations. For ease of scaling up these layouts have simple 10′ x 10′ dimensions. The closest that most bamboo can be planted is 5′ on center. They can be planted further apart, but no closer. This first layout below is a 10′ x 10′ bed with 9 plants set…
Living Sticks – Taming Running Bamboo
A “Living stick”, is a culm of running bamboo that has had its root system altered in a way that prevents it from producing additional rhizomes or shoots. Living sticks will never grow into a grove. They won’t produce a hedge or screen. It will for the rest of its potential 7 to 10 year…
Bamboo Leaf Tea
Bamboo leaf tea has been consumed in China and India for centuries. It’s said at least since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) in China. Bamboo is well known for it’s benefits for hair, skin, and nails. This is due to the silica content in the leaves. Horsetail, or Equisetum, is the plant most often used…
Bamboo Barrier Installation
Installing a bamboo barrier properly is important to its successful control. When possible we always recommend natural containment methods. • Mowing a swath of lawn 25′ to 30′ or more around all sides of the bamboo grove. • Edging around the grove with a flat blade spade in a pattern of overlapping cuts all the…
Mason Bee Houses
Click here to go back to the Mason Bee House sales page. Or continue reading below to learn about our Mason Bee Houses and Emergence Boxes. As native bee populations fall every home gardener can do their part to help out these valuable pollinators. Here at the bamboo nursery we also have fruit trees for…
Bamboo Species Often Overlooked
There are some bamboo species that are often overlooked. It’s unfortunate because they have a lot of good qualities. Species in the genera Sasa, Pseudosasa, Pleioblastus, Indocalamus, and Hibanobambusa are frequently overlooked by zone 5 gardeners because these species do die back to the ground each winter here. This means that they grow much like…