Fixing bamboo in the ground

[David]

Hi,
I am looking for ideas to fix bamboo in the ground. I am in the process of building a shed to do my pottery and and have found that bamboo rots within a year when stuck in the ground. i am looking for designs that will anchor bamboo above the ground and still be flexible enough to adapt to the difference in bamboo thickness. any ideas?
David.

[Mark Mortimer]

Hi David,
Not only do you need to protect bamboo from the soil and splashback from the rain, but you also need to anchor the post, so the building, which will be light, doesn't blow away!
One way to do this is to have a concrete block set in the ground, sticking our above the ground level. Set into this is a length of reinforcing bar coming straight out, say about 600mm. The top of this bar is bent into a loop. The bamboo is placed over the bar and a bolt is inserted through the walls of the bamboo, threading through the loop in the bar. The whole internode containing the bar is then filled with mortar. The result is a strong anchored and protected foundation.
It's a but hard to explain. There are good photos of it in Victor Cusack's book, Bamboo World.
Cheerrs,
Mark

[David]

Dear Mark,

thanks for the information. I was hoping to get some ideas for a all metal bracket. I find the idea of concrete blobs sticking out of the ground ugly. I am trying to work it out myself but would love some tried and tested methods.

Thanks again .

David

[Mark Meckes]

Hi David,
Thanks for bringing up this interesting subject!
The only `building' I do is making garden arbors, fences etc for my garden, but I have found that it is very advantagous to begin with metal stakes pounded into the ground.
As the `structures' I build aren't intended to last any more than a few years, (I want to dismantle them anyway, so I can build something new!), they can be more abstract or experimental in approach.
However I am very interested in the innovative approaches that builders are coming up with to build with bamboo.
It seems like there are as many ways to build with bamboo as to work with any building material, especially if bamboo is cut/split/reshaped/ or chopped/pulped and `reculmstituted'!
It's mind-boggling as we consider combining these completely different types of materials together, with bamboo being just one component.

Could you provide some more details of your project?
Size and shape of structure? species and diameter of bamboo?
Permanent structure or improvized, (time/materials/budget limitations)?
Artistic endeavour, purely functional? (simple metal pole/framework with bamboo attached or something more elaborate)

Here's a pic of
DaFeet (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=850)
by www.koolbamboo.com
The book- Bamboo - Gift Of The Gods by Oscar Hildago is a must have for anyone interested in building with bamboo.

MarkJM