While rowing in the lake, I took a couple pictures of some mature Oldhamii’s along the shore. The best way to really appreciate the tall, elegant profile of Giant Timber, it is view it from a distance.
and below a close up shot of the same bamboo..
Notice how straight, Giant Timber (Oldhamii) grows. This bamboo is 8 years old but it has looked very much the same for the past 5 years. It normally takes about 3 years for a bamboo to mature. After that the culms continue to increase in diameter and grow taller but most of the dramatic growth occurs in the early years when cane height and culm diameter more than doubles in size over a relatively short period of time.
Below are two pictures of young Oldhamii shoots emerging around existing canes from previous years. Like all clumping bamboos, Oldhamii begins sending up new shoots in late spring when the weather warms and continues shooting throughout the summer and into the fall.
Below is an example of two 7-gal Oldhamiis – tall plants in our nursery with 1-3 canes each.
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| Our son Toby stands inside a large clump of Giant Timber. Toby is now much bigger and the bamboo is too! |
Below is a line of 15-gal plants in our nursery. The 15-gal plants are much taller and fuller than those in the 7-gal containers because they can support larger root systems. In all bamboos it is the size of the root system that determines not only how many canes are produced each year but also their height and diameter.
Below, a sandhill crane struts past a mature stand of Oldhamii bamboo.
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