EARLY SPRING

Although it is only the start of February, many of the running bamboos have already begun to send up new shoots. The warm winter seems to have fooled the plants into thinking it’s spring.

Normally bamboos don’t send up their new shoots until the weather warms up in late spring/early summer but this years seems to be the exception. The running varieties of green and red hedge bamboo have been the first to send up new canes here at Bare Lake Farms and I expect to see other running varieties doing the same over the next few weeks.

To encourage new growth in your own yard, this is an excellent time to add organic matter to areas where you want your bamboo grove to expand. A top layer of compost, manure, peat, grass clippings, leaves or other organic matter spread around existing plants will encourage those plants to send out more new shoots.