Four years ago I decided to realize, in part, a dream I had to have my own bamboo forest in my back yard. I wanted to train in it, cut it for practice and generally be in it. I love bamboo.
You see, Masaaki Hatsumi made this video years ago showing the techniques of the Shinden Fudo Ryu school of dakentaijutsu. He and his senior students are shown training in a bamboo forest “with nature” (which is emphasized in this school) using the elastic bamboo to practice throws, thick small groves to practice kicking techniques while walking, and other concepts involving the natural properties of this wonderful and fast-growing plant.
Wonderful and fast-growing plant…
I planted two plots of bamboo, one larger plot of the giant Japanese Vivax bamboo and a smaller 6 X 7 plot of the Robert Young bamboo, a beautiful golden bamboo with a single green stripe on each section. I installed a rhizome barrier as instructed by Bamboo Giant, the Aptos-based distributor of virtual all species of bamboo, which was a thick rubbery 3.5 foot sheet creating an impenetrable wall around the plot where the bamboo was to contain itself. The Bamboo Giant website advertised specifies of running bamboo as not being the threat legend makes it out to be. It simply needed to be contained and it would grow wonderfully tall and beautiful in it's assigned space.
Within the first couple of years I noticed a strange tendency for roots to grow up out of the ground and back down outside the barrier like some alien intelligence. I continued to monitor and cut back these escape attempts while enjoying my tiny grove that was flourishing with every spring season. With the end of the winter rains and coming of the new warm weather bamboo literally takes off with several new and increasingly larger shoots.
I’d also noticed the neighbor with whom I share a fence with was covertly cutting the branches which had begun to hang over to his side of the property. Being somewhat of an introvert I worried for him that my bamboo was causing him stress he didn’t want nor deserve.
Wonderful and fast-growing plant…
I knew I was in trouble three months ago when I found three separate runners that had found their way outside the barrier and were making a run for it through my lawn. I also learned from my neighbor through careful and friendly questioning that a sprout had shown up on his property as well.
There was a painful moment; an epiphany experienced while painfully staring at this evil alien invader that my bamboo must die.
The bamboo is gone. It is well cut down, the lumber stored for future projects, and there is a muddy hole where it once grew. It had infiltrated well past the barrier and under the cement down my walk-way where there was apparently sand instead of clay for you see, bamboo loves sand.
I am continuously flooding the hole for two weeks, as recommended by “sources” which should bring about the demise of any remaining root systems. I don’t know what the future holds. I am not happy with my bamboo adventure. I feel like I would have been safer releasing cockroaches into my kitchen.
The giant Vivax in the back seems to be growing more slowly, and new shoots from this year have reached to over 70 feet. I am watching carefully.
The Buddhist implications of this story are as painfully obvious to me as they should be to you…..
Rev. Greg Dilley, Shidoshi
Posted by revgreg at July 18, 2004 10:27 AMGreg,
My aunt, who died recently, had an incredibly beautiful Japanese-style house in Dallas - she marched to her own drummer! She also grew bamboo, but warned me years later not to attempt it as it had taken over the grounds!
Aspen trees are alsovery beautiful, but should not be planted in one's backyard - they are the largest, single living organism on the planet! It is very sad to have to cut one (and its jillion runners) down. So - best not to plant in the first place. Mimi's right on about mint. Don't do it! Mint makes wonderful tea, but put it in a large pot, not a flower bed. Some of the smaller yarrows are nasty, too, taking over a flower bed with underground runners.
Cheers and happy future gardening,
Melanie
Posted by: Melanie at July 21, 2004 07:05 AMWell...at the moment it is a draw between bamboo in large pots or some interesting pine........
I am also very fond of large birch forests which we have in my home country....but that is something I can not have here! Those white trunks are incredibly beautiful in the summer...
In London one is so deprived of trees even if we have some very large parks here and i live only ten minues away from Hyde Park but that is hardly a forest!
The forests are the one thing (and lakes) which I really miss as I grew up surrounded by pine, spruce and birch trees and was never more than five minutes away from water!
Best, Jussi.
Just put another windchime on my porch- one with a cow and compass to go along with my grasshopper one. They are great for warm weather but will have to go inside for the rainy season. Since my next door neighbor has rottweilers who eat fences (no lie) and monster trucks that eat away at the edge of our common lawn area, he doesn't complain about my chimes.
Bamboo can be invasive. However I have never had anything so invasive as mint. THAT stuff is scary. It can make layers of runners and roots come back like crazy. I had a 4 by 6 foot area that evolved out of a barrel and took nearly two years to "clear.' The stuff still comes up in bits.
Green and gardening is very good for my mental health. Something about repeated digging, cutting and planting that helps me to think. Sometime stuff just ups and dies. So just buy another plant, put out some seed. Eventually you'll find something that can thrive in your corner of the world.
Posted by: Dr. Mimi at July 19, 2004 08:49 PMFunny, I recall seeing a documentary on neighbor disputes in the UK about hedges and such. Funny thing is, I LOVE windchimes, I just bought a new large low-toned set to add to my 4 others.
I have seen the vast bamboo forests during my train rides in Japan but haven't had the change to journey through them. I would love to though.
I'm sorry for vilifying bamboo. In fact there is the clumping variety and the running kind. Be warned, the running bamboo to me *now* post bamboo apolocalypse seem more animal than plant. It's one serious creature.
Good luck and happy bamboo dreams to you Jussi.
Rev. Greg
Posted by: Rev.Greg at July 19, 2004 05:33 PMI, too, love the bamboo.........living in the centre of London I have no access to it though.
I have contemplated having pots of it outside my flat (apartment)...but my past history with plants has held me back (I had four beautiful shikimi in large pots growing very nicely for two years and then...BANG.....they just died almost overnight despite having fed them only filtered water or rain (they can not live in UK lime soil).
I have not yet managed to walk in bamboo forests in Japan and the closest I have gotten to them is behind Myorenji where they have a small grove of them....tall and thick...beautiful!
I feel saddened reading your story as it does make the beautiful bamboo seem like a villain!
But then again you propably are escaping (by getting rid of it) the number one cause of neighbourly disputes in UK ....garden hedges or trees!
The number two is windchimes!
Jussi.