using green culms

[Mark Mortimer]

I have just started making a pergola, for which I'm using Bambusa oldhami. It is the first time I've ever used a clumper, most of my work being done with the Phyllostachys genus. It has come as a surprise to me the more pithy nature of the material, more fibrous and less dense.
I know the seasoning principles for bamboo (air dried out of the sun etc) but what does that process do to strength? Is a properly cured culm stronger than a green one? Apart from slight shrinkage, what are the disadvantages of building, say, a pergola from green culms and have them air dry once it is up?
Cheers, Mark

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Mark,
I've been doing a lot more work of late, with green or partially dried bamboo, though mostly for sculptural pieces, using mostly Phyllostachys species.
The reason being that bamboo has much more plasticity and flexibility when green, enabling me to do things with bamboo that I had previously never realized or considered.
Then, when the item has dried, (naturally or with the aid of heat), it retains the memory or shape of my endeavors.

Mark