I know winter has just started, but wanted to lift everybody's spirits with a shot of last years shooting extravaganza..

The P. nigra getting it's growth on.

Notice the trench. This area started out at the same level as the surrounding lawn.

No barrier here. Each year I use the sharpshooter to go all the way around this area, cutting the escapees. I throw some of the trench dirt up into the grove, raising the level a few inches every year. Between that and the compost/manure additions, the area is now over a foot above where it started.

Now instead of cutting rhizomes way down at the bottom of the trench, I usually find them diving out from the middle or above ground- then they take a sharp turn downwards towards the deep earth...

It's not that early because growers in the warmest zones start reporting their first shoots as early as mid February which is less than 2 months away. Even for me, it's possible to get fargesia rufa shoots before the beginning of March, but the real show usually doesn't begin until late April around here.

That trench idea looks like it works pretty effectively and it also looks like you keep the # of culms down so it doesn't get overcrowded. Whenever I see rhizomes going in a direction I don't want, I generally turn them up to let them turn into a whip shoot which will be clipped away after shooting season when they don't have much energy. This is only because my boos still have a lot of upsizing ahead of them so I don't cut them away. If it's from a bamboo that I want divisions off of, I'll lead the rhizomes into drainage holes of 2-3gal sized nursery pots.

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http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

The Sasa vetchii shoots at the end of February, the Arrow is next, then by mid-March, the rest of them start going....then I have to wait until June for the Bambusas to do their thing.

'Tis the season to start thinking of digging boos for sure.... Get the shovels ready, start eyeballing what can be removed from the groves, etc.

I have P. japonica in the pot, and it started shooting right before cold weather came. Morning temperatures were below freezing most of the time since then, and it still grows new shoots (extremely slow growth, but they do). The largest shoot from this winter is already around 2.5 inches long. Soil is frozen on top most of the time and this bamboo still shows some growth. I'm keeping it unheated without much light now, it's still freezing, but not much. While it was outside, black pot heated up and melted the soil during the day even with low temperatures. Now the temperature is more stable (lower during the day and higher during the night). Hopefully all the shoots will survive the winter.

My potted japonica had 2 distinct shooting seasons: one in the spring and one that started right around the onset of cooler weather. Also, my Phy. arcana luteosulcata is continually, since cooler weather arrived, producing these tiny 1 foot tall shoots all over the place. Not sure but maybe this is specific to arcana? Some other phyllos have the odd shoot appearing now but not in such quantity, and not so tiny. Also have a shoot on my in-ground Bambusa 'Clone X' that has continued to grow without damage despite the few light frosts we've had. Hopefully when we get a hard freeze I can protect it enough that it won't abort.

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God Bless,

Matthew

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Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

We had a seriously strange season this year, drought and record breaking temps all summer long.

Finally come late fall, rain and cooler temps. I dug my P. nigra trench in the middle of November- and there was hardly an escapee (rhizome) to be found reaching for freedom. Wait one more week, and the entire grove started sending up small shoots- something it never does. I had to dig down and cut them all off- saving energy for spring 2012 shooting season.

Of course once I saw all those shoots, I checked the trench again. Fresh new rhizome tips heading for the borders . Time to do some more work.

Hoping the cold sets in and tells this sucker to go to sleep.

Samajax, does your nigra seem to be as vigorous as other runners? I have seen lots of talk about nigra not being very vigorous but I have 2 different clones and they both seem to run like crazy here in my climate, seem to size-up quickly too!

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God Bless,

Matthew

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Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

Matthew- In a good rain year, this one will run around 3-4' past the trench and the count of escaping rhizomes goes up. Not sure what clone I have- but it does not get super black/shiny like some I've seen. Depending on where I'm digging, there can be three or four escapees per foot- it's a directional thing. I have increased the area I've allowed for this grove, but I've been told by the other half that I'm at my max.

I live in the center city- a large sized lot for the urban core with huge old oak trees, but space for running bamboos is doled out sparingly.

I do thin this grove- I cut out smaller/older culms, and trim branches out- sometimes only leaving the primary branch at each node. Trimming the branches in spring allows room for new shoots to branch out without running into interference. Branch trimming also helps with the nigra's tendency to flop over. You should see this grove after a good rain..

In Texas, nigra likes a bit of afternoon shade, but this also encourages flopping. It looks beautiful, but in hindsight, I'd should have put a more upright type, like P. Makinoi....it would have been a better fit for this space.

I know that in Texas, P. nigra will not put on it's best face- It looks way better and is much larger in places like Portland, but the black does look cool.

if you give nigra a place it is happy- here that means shade in the afternoon, the leaves stay deep green, it really is an eye catcher.