My Bamboo Forest, jungle reforestation; part 1
I started planting bamboo about 4-5 years ago.
The idea is a reforestation project restoring some worn out oil palm land.
These first pics were the very first I planted, almost 5 years ago.
This is a South China specie; Sericius, a thick walled bamboo, excellent strength for construction, but also produces tasty shoots.
the next ones are the largest specie of bamboo called gigantus! They will eventually put out shoots 30cm in diameter.
Some clumps of Sericius, about 3 years old
Killing the old oil palm
This a rare sight a young bamboo flowering already
Some younger Gigantus, they get real bushy at first, (note the big leaves, also called big leaf bamboo)
more to come
I think that you are the best of smart person
Thanks for such a fine comment,
Sometimes when you try to do things different from everyone else ... well you feel kinda strange.
Cheers A.
You're doing a great thing. You can plant pretty much anything out there. You can make your own self sustaining garden in the forest. Whatever you can think of that you might want to eat or sell, can simply be planted and enjoyed year after year.
indeed, many fascinating edible things grow. Some of the best fruits. My favorites are jackfruit and durian, both of which I'm planting.
Cheers A.
In my previous home in Largo, Florida, the previous owner had planted a clump of giant bamboo of an unknown variety, and twenty some odd years later it was thriving.
I always loved the bamboo, which played host to dozens of bird species throughout the seasons, and were especially beloved by the cardinals, blue jays, flickers and pileated woodpeckers.
I used to love sitting in the evenings by our fire pit, listening to the wind through the trees, and the sounds of the bamboo creaking and knocking into each other . . . it reminded be a little of the lovely sounds of boat rigging in a marina.
The neighbor with whom I shared the border on which the bamboo was located, hated the bamboo, and mercilessly cut down any culms that had the temerity to sprout on his side. I think in the end, though, I convinced him that the bamboo had value, if only because in times of flooding, it sucked up the water in its vicinity pretty quickly.
Being bamboo, it did have its inconvenient moments, such as the time one of the culms chose to sprout inside my greenhouse, but hey - no one's perfect. And it did a whole lot less damage than the raccoon that decided to jump onto the roof of the greenhouse from the top of the bamboo, and wound up crashing through the roof panel instead, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. ;-)
I didn't build much with the bamboo in the end, though we owned the place for seventeen years, but I did do some crafts along the way, including a set of giant wind chimes for a friend. I provided a few clumps for friends who wanted to plant them, and culms for art materials, and I occasionally let a Cambodian neighbor dig a few shoots for her amazing soup, which she was kind enough to share with me.
Now that we're in Tennessee, we're a lot more restricted in which varieties we can grow long term, but there is a guy near Nashville who has collected dozens of varieties, so I'll likely get my starts from him. Like you, I am partial to the clumping timber bamboos, and plan on having several varieties in years to come, hopefully including several colors, and definitely including a couple of the giants. I absolutely love the stuff.
I'm mildly envious of your growing zone, as we're facing nearly a week of freezing nights coming up, and I'm missing my Florida garden and its wealth of species. We were in Zone 6b when we moved here, but the USDA recently regraded us into Zone 7b, so now we have a few more species from which to choose.
Best of luck with your projects. Wishing you peace and prosperity in years to come.
Cori
Beautiful! Future generations will remember you for sure :-)