Using bamboo to the very end.

Hello Permies!
My neighbor grows an edible form of bamboo. Once it grows beyond a few inches in height it’s no longer something you want to chew on!
That’s where I come in. Every fall I cut it all down and drag it home. I let it sit all winter so it doesn’t root when I use it for plant stakes. It’s really good for one season, sometimes two. Once it’s too broken for that use I cut it into smaller pieces and let it dry all winter again. At that point those pieces become the best plant labels I’ve ever tried. They barely fade during the growing season! I write on the inside and outside.
I also trim off the smaller side branches in fall and use them as seed protection for cover crops and greens. It actually works better than expected.

Great ideas! Have you used any for insect hotels?

I have edible bamboo, but I always leave a bunch of full grown culms over winter as they are important for providing nutrients to the new growth in the spring. If there is no root attached, my variety (Phyllostachys dulcis) will not root even if it's fresh, but I am aware that not all bamboos are created equal! I suppose that by removing all growth in the fall, it might help slow down a potentially "invasive" variety for the ecosystem it's planted in.

However, like Scott, mine gets used for everything - banty perches, building material, fencing, garden stakes ridgepoles for tarps, and more. So long as the sections are cracked, it even can be used as firewood (you don't want closed sections exploding!)

Some varieties will last longer than others, but I've generally found mine lasts longer than what I was told.

None of the running bamboos or the cold hardy clumpers (Fargesia, Borinda, etc) can be propagated from their above ground parts since they won’t form roots.  Most of the tropical clumping bamboos (Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, etc) can be propagated from sections of their culm buried in the ground.

Hello, and thanks for the replies.
I have used them for insect hotels Angela but not as much lately. I’ve found that the solitary bees here prefer the hollow stems of Polk weed. I usually let it grow to maturity because the deer really like the leaves. Go figure. Otherwise they eat all of my elderberry and blueberry plants; oh and comfrey!
I really like all the uses you’ve discovered Jay.
I don’t have any idea what variety this is but I did have a fresh stake take root one year. Luckily I was able to get it all before it spread.