Once the proper practices are known for how to handle the bamboo, there comes the necessity of doing it. So I am going to present my technique and encourage others to critique my methods to see if anyone can suggest improvements that might make it easier. I suppose that someone might suggest that I use power equipment and that is probably a wonderful idea just as soon as I win the lottery. Until then I am restricted to essentially manual methods. I can transport root balls and culms to the new groves by dragging them on a sledge as I have shown. But the real work is digging them up. Some of what I present here is slanted towards if not utterly specific to my rocky clay soil, yet it may have some more general applicability.
I find that the real labor is getting the bamboo out of the ground at the source grove. Key to my technique is a home made tool I call my "Dig Bar"! I have a basement shop with band saw, lathe, milling machine, grinder, and mig welder, but I must say that the welding is strictly that of a learning novice on what I am about to show.
The 15 pound weight is mostly in the 1 inch diameter 54 inch 1018 cold rolled steel handle, but the ends are the interesting part.
The blade is 0.5 x 3 x 6 inch rectangle and the leading edge was created by laying on 1/8 inch of "McKay Armor Wear" hard facing wire before beveling the end from the other side at a 45 degree angle. The other end sports a hardened O1 tool steel replaceable point. If you look very closely at the pointy end you may notice the smooth diamond knurl on the round bar. It adds a little bit of not slip to the handle, but it
must be a smooth knurl
not a sharp knurl, unless you happen to have incredibly tough hands. In much of the use you must let your hands slide along the bar.
Also for the highly observant there is a small wrench flat visible on the sides of the tool steel tip, so that it can be removed for replacement. It has a threaded stub but it had best be sealed with removal strength thread sealant lest it get rusted in place.
I originally made it for dealing with the roots of trees that I was clearing along my woodland trails or in my yard. The hard facing steel is one noted for impact and abrasion resistance and intended for digging in the ground. The fancy color scheme is for visibility when it is laying in the grass and weeds etc. The yellow is on only one side of the handle so that when the blade is covered in mud you can tell which way the bevel is facing.
What is important however is how this tool is used to dig bamboo, and for that this 4 image montage is probably quicker than 4000 words.
Knowing that I was going to be establishing some wind breaks and expanding my dust & privacy screen at the roadside, I deliberately allowed my biggest and strongest grove to invade the adjacent lawn this spring and I have harvested about 60 culms from those invading rhizomes this spring. But as I said I have a rocky clay soil. The weather has cooperated with days and days and a few nights during which we have gotten enogh rain to make the cohesion of the soil in a root ball almost optimum. Of course the grass has grown like crazy, but I thnk the sod helps to make the root ball hold to gether all the better, even if it obscures everything.
Accordingly:
-- Starting at the upper left,you can see that I have used grass shears to close crop the grass from around a triple of culms so I can see what I am doing. This is rather important because when it come times to lift the root ball with a shovel if the sod is moving but the culm is not STOP ! The culm is still rooted and further prying will break up the root ball and make a mess.
-- At the upper right the next step is to use the pointed end of the dig bar to make a dotted line that defines the root ball. When the soil is rocky, this is critical as it finds the rocks and their edges so that one does not beat the cutting edge to dullness (as tough as that hard facing is, it has its limits) Also, one sometimes finds the rhizomes this way.
-- At the lower left the cutting blade has been used to "cut on the dotted line". If you look closely you can see the trailing edge of the blade is visible and below the ground surface. One to three thrusts of the dig bar will penetrate 8 inches into the ground, and if it finds a rhizome it will simply cleave right through it. When that happens confirmation that the rhizome has been cut comes from the slight sound it makes and the feel of trying to pull the bar out as the two cut ends are wedged against opposite faces of the blade. Because the blade is beveled on one side only an angled blow will readily allow the blade to cut under the root ball should there be need to cut roots there. There is always one rhizome, usually two because the rhizome usually continues beyond the sprouts that came from it. Occasionally more rhizomes are encountered if there are intersecting rhizomes or branches.
-- In the lower right, a shovel is inserted in the circumfrential cut made by the dig bar and gentle prying lifts the roots. After a little loosening, the shovel is angled to go under the root ball and the final prying is done making sure that the culm is coming with the root ball and that there are no roots or rhizomes that have been missed. At that point with the root ball completely loose, if there are substantial culms, they can be grasped and used to help control the root ball while the shovel is used to lift or skid the root ball out on top of the ground.
The practical size of the root ball is dependent on:
-- the soil condition
-- the soil type
-- degree of root development
and
-- how much your back can lift.
In my case, my 70 year old back ought to be limited to about 70 lb max, but I may have taken a hundred pounder on occasion. but as a practical matter maybe 40 to 50 lbs is better.
the last week or so the soil cohesion has been excellent to the point that the 12-15 foot culms could be carried by lifting the root ball or vice versa if the culms were big and symmetrically placed, they could be used to lift the root ball.
Assuming that one has had the good sense to prepare the destination in advance, the rest is pretty easy. Most of the work is in digging up the bamboo to transplant.
I was impressed to find that what Tarzanus referred to 3 posts ago was readily evident in spite of all the rain we have had and the very high humidity. The leaves show signs of dessication very quickly and the leaves start to roll to conserve moisture. By the time I have dug and am loading the third root ball, leaf rolling has already started on the first one.
Because I was making new plantings within 100 yards of where I was digging Nothing particularly special was required to deal with the dessication. I simply hauled the sledge over to the new location placed the root balls and filled around them. I hosed the ground down to help me press them firmly in contact with their new soil and I sprayed down the leaves with a mist to correct for the leaf rolling. Then I mulched them with wood chips, sprinkled on a bit of lime to compensate for the acidity of the mulch and then hosed down the mulch.
If that sounds plenty easy, I will add that my limit is about 15 culms per day, Of course the humidity has been ridiculous and there is a limit to how much clothing one can take off to keep from over heating while bound up in sweat saturated garments. The breeze helps with the cooling but if it gets too strong handling a 50 lb root ball with three 10 foot culms can be dicey.
Ok, that is the technique I have been using, so if there are any question, say on, and if there are any suggestions as to how to do this more easily PLEASE DO SAY ON! I do love my bamboo, but sometimes it is a bit demanding.
Oh, about that dig bar, if you are not in a position to make one nor want to pay someone else to make one for you, some such things are sometimes found at farm stores around where they keep the post hole diggers and the like, however I have never seen one with a 3 inch wide cutting blade but there may be some. They sell them for digging in hard and difficult soils. However, I doubt you will find any tipped with alloy steels on both ends.
I have been told that I am a bit far north for the variety of bamboo I have, however I got my original plants by digging them from a local grove that grows very well and seems to be well adapted to this environment, so I suppose it could be a variant of the species. based on current growth trends my best grove will probably go 35 feet tall. It has the advantage of growing on soil that appears to have been trucked in and is near the sewage lagoon (soil here does not percolate worth a hoot) which probably keeps the water table high and nutrient rich.
