Mark Meckes
14th January 2001, 05:47 AM
An ice storm the occured in South-central US early in January 2001 caused considerable damage to our Phyllostachys aurea.
Here in Austin Texas, our grove suffered by the breakage of 100+ culms, up to 2" dia./15' to 30Ft tall.
Most breakage occured at about 10 to 20 feet high, where the nodes of P. aurea grew compressed and distorted.
These shortened internode spaces would not bend with the weight of the ice, and so breakage occured at the top end of this distortion.
P.aurea also produces these distorted/compressed nodes at the base of the culm, but little breakage occured there.
Breakage occurred equally among young and mature culms.
Sometimes a `domino-effect' ensued, where the ice-laden weight of one broken top would lay over other tops around it causing them to break, resulting in a mass of broken tops.
Pruning and retrieving these bent and broken tops was quite a chore.
With broken tops that were still partially attached, I used a long bamboo pole, upside down, with 2 inches of side branches left on to snag the broken tops and pull the top down till it snapped off or so I could reach this part with my long-handled pruners to cut it off.
The younger tops were pruned of their side branches and have been woven into the garden fence, and the mature culms have been placed upright in the grove till their leaves fall off, to be used for later craft projects.
Fortunately this is not a common annual occurance this far South.
Mark
Here in Austin Texas, our grove suffered by the breakage of 100+ culms, up to 2" dia./15' to 30Ft tall.
Most breakage occured at about 10 to 20 feet high, where the nodes of P. aurea grew compressed and distorted.
These shortened internode spaces would not bend with the weight of the ice, and so breakage occured at the top end of this distortion.
P.aurea also produces these distorted/compressed nodes at the base of the culm, but little breakage occured there.
Breakage occurred equally among young and mature culms.
Sometimes a `domino-effect' ensued, where the ice-laden weight of one broken top would lay over other tops around it causing them to break, resulting in a mass of broken tops.
Pruning and retrieving these bent and broken tops was quite a chore.
With broken tops that were still partially attached, I used a long bamboo pole, upside down, with 2 inches of side branches left on to snag the broken tops and pull the top down till it snapped off or so I could reach this part with my long-handled pruners to cut it off.
The younger tops were pruned of their side branches and have been woven into the garden fence, and the mature culms have been placed upright in the grove till their leaves fall off, to be used for later craft projects.
Fortunately this is not a common annual occurance this far South.
Mark