WINTER BAMBOO DAMAGE

 

Despite the claims of how hardy bamboo is -- mostly true -- the plant can suffer damages in extreme winds & in the Winter ... damage from ice & snow.  Such an event resulted in damages to ALL my bamboo groves.

 

Just as forecast, on Christmas Eve, 2012, weather conditions turned ... well ... "UGLY". Rain turned to freezing rain in rapidly dropping temperatures.  In turn, wet, heavy snow soon followed, totaling at my home, almost a foot of snow on Christmas Day.  Following are a few photos of that snow fall & the beginning -- & on-going -- process of removing the destruction which occurred on my property.

 

This is the "greeting" I received Christmas morning.  Not only was there damage to my bamboo -- shown above & in other photos, being bent or broken to the ground, due to the weight of the ice & snow -- but there was major damage to many trees & "minor" damage (if there is such a thing) to almost EVERY tree.

 

Some bamboo seems unaffected, while other clums -- the proper name for the "cains" -- show the affect of the weight on them.

 

Due to the size of much of my bamboo, the oppressive amount of snow & ice causes the clums to split, shatter, and/or break.  This bamboo will have to be cut to the ground & removed.

 

Major tree limbs & branches will have to be removed from the stream where they have fallen.  More bamboo remains in the background, bent & broken.

 

The photo above is a good example of the damage to the bamboo: some clums broken & on the ground, while other sections of the grove are resisting -- but bending -- under the weight of the elements.

 

As the conditions improve -- December 27th -- some of the bamboo begins the process of trying to right itself as the snow & ice recedes.  Broken bamboo can not revive itself.



 

The bamboo grove -- seen in the first photo of this post -- begins to release itself from the confines of the ice & snow.

 

The beginning of 2013, with the departure of the snow & ice, shows the damages more clearly & helps to illustrate the "clean up' facing me over the next several months.  The broken & damaged bamboo clums will have to be cut, removed, sectioned & burned.  

 

Some bamboo has broken off at high levels & is on the ground & other sections have split & a portion hangs down, still attached to the original clum.  Everything damaged will have to be removed before the Spring growing season begins in March.

 

Not all the damages are to the bamboo.  The lifted pant leg revels where I managed a bit of cutting on myself.

Bamboo is a very attractive plant, & I still enjoy it in my landscape.  I just wish some of the Winter storms of Central Arkansas did not do so much damage, requiring the time & effort to remove the remaining destruction.