Phyllostachys Nuda- Cold Hard Bamboo

I'd like to plant some bamboo for construction purposes. I'm just wondering how to integrate a bamboo stand, or several, into my permaculture set up. Would you place it far away from your orchard set up? Would you intermix it? Hmmm.

My trees are planted on berms. Could I plant the bamboo in the swales?? I do have a few retention pond type things that do not have water in them for long. Perhaps I should plant the bamboo there?

I know nothing of bamboo.

Have you checked out Geoff Lawton's bamboo video. (All his videos are totally worth the mildly-annoying registration.)
http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/61148-power-of-bamboo

It could give you some good insights about how bamboo can influence the movement of water, nutrients, and wind through your property.

So many answers.
You might want to look at what Martin Crawford does with bamboo in his food forest. There it is integrated into the system of polycultures and part of his method of controlling its tendency to expand is harvesting the young shoots for eating.

Bamboo can be a good choice for wind breaks, with its dense growth pattern and high rate of growth. It can be a source of construction material, animal fodder, heating fuel. The young shoots of many varieties are at least edible to people.

If you have someplace where you want erosion control but are not wanting to do earthworks it can provide a sort of living gabion and help capture nutrients that might otherwise wash away.

There is a long and very informative thread about bamboo on here someplace. One of the contributors is a professional landscaper in the Carolinas with a focus on bamboo. He had loads of great information to share.

Peter Ellis wrote:So many answers.
You might want to look at what Martin Crawford does with bamboo in his food forest. There it is integrated into the system of polycultures and part of his method of controlling its tendency to expand is harvesting the young shoots for eating.

Bamboo can be a good choice for wind breaks, with its dense growth pattern and high rate of growth. It can be a source of construction material, animal fodder, heating fuel. The young shoots of many varieties are at least edible to people.

If you have someplace where you want erosion control but are not wanting to do earthworks it can provide a sort of living gabion and help capture nutrients that might otherwise wash away.

There is a long and very informative thread about bamboo on here someplace. One of the contributors is a professional landscaper in the Carolinas with a focus on bamboo. He had loads of great information to share.

Thank you! I will look all of these up!

Rick Bort wrote:
Have you checked out Geoff Lawton's bamboo video. (All his videos are totally worth the mildly-annoying registration.)
http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/61148-power-of-bamboo

It could give you some good insights about how bamboo can influence the movement of water, nutrients, and wind through your property.

He does one that focuses on Bamboo? I know he has it and uses it I just haven't seen a video of his about it yet. I'll look it up.

Hmmm well I don't know that I'm going to integrate with the bamboo root system being so vast. Maybe just plant in my retention ponds.

My old boss, Stephen Breyer, has a very informative online catalog with many species of bamboo, and with detailed hardiness info.:
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/newweb/general/bamboo_main.shtml

Some types of bamboo, like bunch grasses, do not run long rhizomes everywhere, but instead form clumps. A few of these are quite cold-hardy.

Brian Cady wrote:My old boss, Stephen Breyer, has a very informative online catalog with many species of bamboo, and with detailed hardiness info.:
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/newweb/general/bamboo_main.shtml

Some types of bamboo, like bunch grasses, do not run long rhizomes everywhere, but instead form clumps. A few of these are quite cold-hardy.

Yeah. I did choose this particular bamboo type because it is cold hardy and quite large so I could use it for construction quite easily I think. It is a clumping variety but even then the roots are pretty matted according to Geoff Lawton's video I just watched. I don't want to choke out my productive trees.

.... It is a clumping variety ...

That's funny. My boss has Phylostachys nuda listed as a large running bamboo, not as a clumper.
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/newweb/gen/genusindex/Phyllostachys_all.shtml

Brian Cady wrote:

.... It is a clumping variety ...

That's funny. My boss has Phylostachys nuda listed as a large running bamboo, not as a clumper.
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/newweb/gen/genusindex/Phyllostachys_all.shtml

I got my information off a bamboo site. That's the problem with the internet. Everyone says whatever they want and then you have to figure out who isn't lying.

Yeah. I've even faced this uncertainty off the internet . On the other hand, it makes exploring the world so much more unpredictably excting, and you can get to know who to trust, with enough time and a memory better than mine .