The Labyrinth

August 12, 2015 • 10 Comments

Our black bamboo has grown into a fairly large forest — a couple of weeks ago I decided to cut a labyrinth in the bamboo. I spent a Saturday cutting out the labyrinth and then hauled in about 40 wheelbarrow loads of mulch to cover the paths. Fortunately, the tree trimmers had dumped four big loads of mulch the week before I cut the labyrinth.

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T & L Photos

Thanks, Janna! I think they said to plant it in the shade to keep it under control.

JannaTWrites(non-registered)

Wow, that is quite the growth there. If I remember right, you are in NM, which I'm surprised bamboo would grow there. (I lived there for nine years growing up.) How interesting to find that full sun resulted in better growth, especially since the people at the nursery should know- they are the plant experts :)

T & L Photos

Hi Lavinia. We bought a little pot of black bamboo in 2003 at an outrageous price. They nursery owner said to plant it in the shade because it didn't like full sun. I planted it under the large crabapple trees we had that shaded the deck, and the black bamboo thrived, but spread very slowly until I took the trees out in 2009. Then we discovered it loves full sun, and it started spreading very quickly. A couple of cold winters in 2011 and 2012, and the extreme dryness in the first half of 2013 kept it more contained. But it has since recovered and almost doubled the amount of square footage it's covering in the last two years. It probably covers about 1500 to 2000 sf ft of space currently.

T & L Photos

Thanks, Susan!

Lavinia Ross(non-registered)

I like that bamboo labyrinth! What a great idea! How long did it take the bamboo to get to that point? Some friends gave us a container of what they call "38 year bamboo", as they say the mother plant lasted 38 years before going to seed, passing on and laving a lot of offspring. I haven't planted it yet, as I am looking for a good spot for it.

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The Labyrinth

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