Mark Meckes
5th December 2001, 10:04 PM
Here's some pics of Phyllostachys aurea from our grove here in Austin Texas, USA after a major grove grooming exercise!
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_3_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=790) Reaching skyward, leafed branches require adequate sunlight to produce the strongest culms.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_1_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=791) Mature grove - smaller diameter culms are selectively harvested to allow more space for newer and larger culms.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_4_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=792) Age of culms- Foreground - left to right: (1) 6-7 yrs old (2&3) 6months old (4) 4-5 years old
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_5_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=793) Misty morning
The largest diameter poles that we have harvested (though a very small percentage), have been around 2 1/2 inches (6.5cm) dia and 30+ft tall, though the average for large diameter is 1 3/4" to 2 1/4".
Last year(2000) was the first year in it's 40-ish year life that it was thoroughly maintained (removal of dead culms and selective thinning).
Maintaining a wild overgrown grove for the first time also involves removing tangled vines, miss-shaped broken-down trees and loosely anchored live culms, many which were never able to get to enough sunlight to grow strong.
We weren't too drastic doing the selective thinning for the first years' big clean-up, because we didn't want to overly shock the grove, by removing too many culms that provide sustenance to the grove.
Last autumn we brought home any leaf rakings/lawn clippings from our surrounding neighborhood community (that was setting at the curbside for refuse pickup), and applied it to barren parts of the steep hillside of our 2 acre grove.
Finding any organic waste and applying it to our grove is an ongoing process, and is vital to build up the fertility of the grove, and also protect it from the adverse effects of the hot, dry Texas summers.
This (following) year we saw an increase in the number of larger culms but rejuvenation could take several years and will also depend a lot on the Texas weather. (drought/heat)
We also removed smaller new spring shoots that came up near larger shoots, after it was safe to venture into the grove and not step on emerging shoots.
When the weather cools in the autumn here in Texas, and we finally get some much-needed rain, after a hot, dry summer a flush of new, and usually smaller diameter shoots emerge.
We cut almost all of these down ( unless they were in an empty, wide open part of the grove).
Most of these shoots simply won't be able to compete with the surrounding over-towering culms, to get adequate sunlight.
They also often get badly damaged by the first heavy frost.
It is better to let all this energy get diverted to rhizome production.
We are now in the process (autumn/winter - 01/02) of harvesting the oldest mature culms.
By now, we are now able look at our grove and visually imagine the successive yearly harvest of the remaining culms.
And it is always exciting to see where the new shoots arise each spring, and to visualize the underground network of rhizomes that make this possible.
The new shoots reveal a pattern of rhizome growth, often shown as a staggered row or clustered area of new shoot development.
By spring of 2003 the grove should hopefully be in prime condition, as we begin to see the management of the grove reach a nearly complete cycle.
There are always some culms though, that even at 7 and eight years of age, are still full of vigor, with heavily leafed branches, wishing to grow on.
They will remain there till a new shoot emerges near it's space, vying for the sunlight, at which time the mature culm will begin another life as a product of somebodys imagination!
Mark and Carole
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_3_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=790) Reaching skyward, leafed branches require adequate sunlight to produce the strongest culms.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_1_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=791) Mature grove - smaller diameter culms are selectively harvested to allow more space for newer and larger culms.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_4_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=792) Age of culms- Foreground - left to right: (1) 6-7 yrs old (2&3) 6months old (4) 4-5 years old
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/503/thumbs/1P_aurea_5_Austin_TX_USA.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=793) Misty morning
The largest diameter poles that we have harvested (though a very small percentage), have been around 2 1/2 inches (6.5cm) dia and 30+ft tall, though the average for large diameter is 1 3/4" to 2 1/4".
Last year(2000) was the first year in it's 40-ish year life that it was thoroughly maintained (removal of dead culms and selective thinning).
Maintaining a wild overgrown grove for the first time also involves removing tangled vines, miss-shaped broken-down trees and loosely anchored live culms, many which were never able to get to enough sunlight to grow strong.
We weren't too drastic doing the selective thinning for the first years' big clean-up, because we didn't want to overly shock the grove, by removing too many culms that provide sustenance to the grove.
Last autumn we brought home any leaf rakings/lawn clippings from our surrounding neighborhood community (that was setting at the curbside for refuse pickup), and applied it to barren parts of the steep hillside of our 2 acre grove.
Finding any organic waste and applying it to our grove is an ongoing process, and is vital to build up the fertility of the grove, and also protect it from the adverse effects of the hot, dry Texas summers.
This (following) year we saw an increase in the number of larger culms but rejuvenation could take several years and will also depend a lot on the Texas weather. (drought/heat)
We also removed smaller new spring shoots that came up near larger shoots, after it was safe to venture into the grove and not step on emerging shoots.
When the weather cools in the autumn here in Texas, and we finally get some much-needed rain, after a hot, dry summer a flush of new, and usually smaller diameter shoots emerge.
We cut almost all of these down ( unless they were in an empty, wide open part of the grove).
Most of these shoots simply won't be able to compete with the surrounding over-towering culms, to get adequate sunlight.
They also often get badly damaged by the first heavy frost.
It is better to let all this energy get diverted to rhizome production.
We are now in the process (autumn/winter - 01/02) of harvesting the oldest mature culms.
By now, we are now able look at our grove and visually imagine the successive yearly harvest of the remaining culms.
And it is always exciting to see where the new shoots arise each spring, and to visualize the underground network of rhizomes that make this possible.
The new shoots reveal a pattern of rhizome growth, often shown as a staggered row or clustered area of new shoot development.
By spring of 2003 the grove should hopefully be in prime condition, as we begin to see the management of the grove reach a nearly complete cycle.
There are always some culms though, that even at 7 and eight years of age, are still full of vigor, with heavily leafed branches, wishing to grow on.
They will remain there till a new shoot emerges near it's space, vying for the sunlight, at which time the mature culm will begin another life as a product of somebodys imagination!
Mark and Carole