Bamboo Living: a sustainable way of life

This one-month-old Green Hedge Clumping Bamboo only had one cane when it was first planted from a 3-gal container.  One month later and a new shoot has already emerged with many more shoots to follow over the next few months.  See photo below. This line of one-year-old Green Hedge Clumping Bamboos looked like the top picture when it was first planted.  Each bamboo only had a single cane in each 3-gal container.  The bamboos are planted 4' apart. ...

A customer from Riverview, Florida who purchased several Green Hedge clumping bamboos (Bambusa multiplex 'Silverstripe') emailed to say: About 4 years ago I bought some bamboo from your lovely property. We love it and it did everything you said it would. It blocked a two story house that had been built behind us and provided a beautiful screen for our viewing pleasure. My question has to do with keeping the bamboo as a smaller clump to fit the area it is in. When new stalks come up do I dig i...

Ken, a customer from Tampa, emailed to say how pleased he is with the screen provided by the 9 Graceful bamboos he installed in August 2009.  Eager to create a tall, dense screen to hide a noisy A/C unit and provide privacy from neighbors, Ken decided to purchase 7-gal size Gracefuls instead of 3-gal size plants.  Bamboos in larger containers have bigger root systems, which can support more culms as well as larger diameter and taller canes.  Sherry and Ralph, It has been a...

Bamboo is an instant gratification plant and there's nothing that says "tropical paradise" quicker than installing a large container of clumping bamboo in your landscape.  Below are several of our most popular clumping bamboos in 15-, 30- and 50-gallon containers. Graceful Our son Timmy is almost 6' tall.  These 15- and 30-gal Graceful Bamboos are between 15' and 18' tall  Emerald Timber Emerald Timber - well established roots, quite tall culms ...

This morning I received an email from customers who purchased some of our bamboo poles to build a wedding arbor. Sherry,  We just wanted to say thank you so much for the gorgeous bamboo we purchased from you for our wedding arbor. It turned out beautiful and was perfect for our ceremony. As promised I've attached some photos for you. Thanks again!   -Jean & Victor Gonzalez What a perfect structure for a lakeside service... Wedding arbors or "chupp...

BLUE TIMBER BAMBOO  Bambusa Chungii Can grow 30-35 feet with 2" diameter canes. Very Hardy A powdery coating on both new and mature canes gives Bambusa chungii the alternative name of White Bamboo Although we call this Blue Timber Bamboo, it is also known as White Bamboo. The name comes from the whitish-blue powder that covers the new canes as they develop. With an upright growth pattern a...

EMERALD TIMBER BAMBOO     Bambusa textilis mutabilis/Kanapaha Can grow 30-40 feet with 2" diameter canes. Very Hardy Emerald - also called Royal Bamboo or Wong Chuk - is a stately and elegant cold-hardy bamboo I often refer to Emerald as the "big brother" to Graceful bamboo because they are both me...

This delicate-leafed hedge bamboo is a great choice for a smaller lot.  It also works well as a container plant for patios or poolside planting.  Golden Goddess can tolerate winter temperatures that dip for short periods of time into the high teens, making it a good choice for people living in Zone 8 - 10. If planted 4' to 6' apart in rich soil that's watered and fertilized regularly, t...

If you are looking for a bamboo that will provide a dense screen, buffer wind, block sound and tolerate winter temperatures that dip into the high teens, Bambusa multiplex Silverstripe is the bamboo for you.  This extremely functional bamboo is also one of the least expensive bamboos we stock, which makes it ideal for long fence lines or perimeter plantings.   The clump of multiplex that our daughter Jenny is kneeling next to was planted in 2002 from a 3-gal size plant ...

A customer who ordered assorted sizes of our Domestically Grown Designer Bamboo poles to use as a focal point of their home's interior just emailed pictures of the finished project: Hi Sherry, As promised, attached are the photos of the installation. Bamboo poles look fantastic! Thanks again for prompt shipment and high quality product. Now we are thinking to plant some tall thin green plant in front of the bamboo poles. Is there some bamboo species that would fit the space and cou...

 New shoots of Yin Yang clumping bamboo A customer writes: My wife and I visited your farm and bought a stand of yin-yang bamboo back in mid-May. We planted it according to your directions and it seems to be doing well. We've just had 2 strong shoots pop up and they are growing phenomenally. In the last few days, though, one of the mature canes is falling over. As I said, it looks very healthy, maybe too full and healthy! Anyway, I tied the canes together-there are maybe 3 or ...

I just received some great Before and After shots from Kristin and Ryan of St. Pete.  Although St. Pete is not that far away, being closer to the coast provided needed warmth for cold-sensitive plants like Angel Mist.   May 2009 - Two Angel Mist clumping bamboos planted in the foreground, one Blue Timber clumping bamboo planted in front of the door. May 2010 - the house is hidden behind lush foliage!   The red cylinders by the two Angel Mist bambo...

A customer who bought bamboos from us three years ago returned to pick up four more plants this morning.  A few hours later, I received this email from her: Hi, Sherry, Many thanks for all your time this morning, walking me round the various specimens and for all your sage advice on which bamboo to choose.  I'm attaching a few pictures I just snapped for you to show you my existing Giant Timber and Angel Mist bamboos. Not a bare cane in sight!  Two Giant Timber bamb...

First-time bamboo growers are always excited by the explosive growth of their baby 'boos.  Many send photos to document the plant's daily increase in size but customer Gary Davids, a wedding photographer in the Orlando area , came up with one of the most creative ways we've seen in a long time to measure the emerging bamboo "shoe-ts"... "Hi Sherry, As promised here is an updated photo showing the Sea Breeze with many new shoots. The shoot on the left of the shoe is only 7 days old whil...

Bill Overland of Overland Designs recently purchased assorted lengths and diameters of our freshly cut homegrown bamboo poles to use in displays at an Orlando-based convention.  He sent us the following email:  "Back from the show w hich was was very successful.  The client loved the bamboo creations and I've attached a picture of one of them for your website." Bill's use of large diameter bamboo poles as a stand-alone decoration has become very popular in home decor. ...

Jason, a customer from Kissimmee, wants to block the view of a two-story house from the home he's renovating in downtown Kissimmee.  He planted his first bamboo yesterday, a 3-gal Seabreeze, with the intention of adding more bamboos to the landscape as the weeks go by.  Below is a photo he sent with his comments: "hey guys, thank you for all your help yesterday! im excited about my new seabreeze and cant wait to see it take off. here is a pic right after i planted it. thank...

These "Before and After" photos just arrived in my inbox from Orlando-area customer, Andy Roy.   Hi, Sherry, I thought I'd share a couple of pics on the 1-year anniversary of our first bamboo planting.  I put these 3 gallon bambusa dolichomerithalla "Silverstripe" in the ground last May.  They put up shoots through November, but didn't manage to fill out with leaves until the last month or so.  Amazing transformation!  If they were just a touch taller, w...

Beautiful Bamboo customer and local craftsman, Teron June, used our Domestically Grown, Designer Quality Bamboo Poles to construct a wet bar for a client and sent along the following photos of the finished project.

The two poles on the right are freshly cut Moso poles that have not been kiln dried or hand torched like the four poles on the left.  Green poles are available by special order only. Notice how the space between the nodes changes from bottom to top.  Toward the base, the space between the nodes is only a couple inches wide but toward the top the space is a half-a-foot or more.

If you are looking for a bamboo pole that's not like most poles, take a peek at what we call Spotted Leopard  Bamboo Poles.  Culled from our own groves of Vivax Running Bamboo, The canes of Spotted Leopard Bamboo Poles are light colored - almost white - with black spots spaced irregularly throughout their length.   These poles make an interesting addition to displays of bamboo canes in large vases or urns.  They work well as windchimes or for interior or exterior decoration....

Cast: Bamboo Living

Peggy de Stern, Director Regional Sudamericana de BOTA, estará participando en la Expo Mundial de Shanghai como ponente en la Red Internacional de 2010 para el Bambú y el Ratán (INBAR) el Congreso el 20 al 22 mayo. Se harán presentaciones sobre las experiencias con Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) de certificación de los bosques de [...]

Peggy Stern, South American Regional Director of BOTA, will be participating in the World Expo Shanghai as a speaker at the 2010 International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) Congress on May 20-22. She will give presentations on experiences with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of bamboo forests and plantations in Latin American and the [...]

Cast: Bamboo Living

Cast: Bamboo Living

Cast: Bamboo Living

Cast: Bamboo Living

I just received this email from customers in the Orlando area who bought Seabreeze and Graceful clumping bamboos from us in 2008 to shield their backyard from a neighbor's home that was being built right along their fence line. Sherry, We are happy with how much our bamboo has grown these past 2 years.  It gives us the privacy, beauty and serenity we were looking for. Attached is a recent photo and another photo from planting 2 years ago along with a photo ...

I just received this email and photo from Gary, a customer who is growing clumping bamboo for the first time: Hi Sherry, We purchased 6 pots of bamboo from you and planted them on 4/1/10. Yesterday morning they looked the same as the day we planted them. Just like you said, here is the first shoot to appear in one day. 6 to 8 inches tall. Thanks.-Gary Bamboo is an exciting plant to grow, especially if you've never grown it before.  When the new shoots begin to emerge in...

On May 4th I received an email from a customer in Orlando who bought bamboo from us over a year ago:  My neighbor asked if my bamboo will always need to be watered. (The sprinkler is on as I write this.) I told him that when the rainy season has arrived, then I needn't water, but that during the dry season - even after the bamboo is established - I'll need to water twice a day. Am I correct? By the way, the bamboo is finally becoming truly a privacy wall, though, surprisingly, I...

A customer wrote:  We bought a Vivax and a Blue from you last fall. Both came through the winter with no damage and have already sent up bunches of new canes this spring. They are so pretty and so much fun. Every day, we go look just to see what's new!   What do you recommend for weed control around the bases of bamboo?   I recall that you planted ground cover plants around some of your clumps. What plants work well?   But I think most of your clumps wer...

What do people think when they see a Bamboo Living home for the first time? Check out these real-life first impressions caught at our most recent Open House that drew over two hundred people and plenty of smiles. Cast: Bamboo Living

CURSO PRÁCTICO DE BIO CONSTRUCCIÓN ARQUITECTURA NATURAL + VERDE - BIO BUILDING WORKSHOP NATURAL GREEN ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCCIÓN DE MUROS DE BAJAREQUE CON ENTRAMADO DE BAMBU + MANEJO SUSTENTABLE DEL BAMBU Walling Bajareque half-BAMBOO + SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF BAMBOO TEPOZTLÁN_MORELOS_MÉXICO ——————————————– LES ESCRIBO PARA CONVOCARLOS A UN TALLER PRÁCTICO DE 5 DÍAS EN LOS CUALES VAMOS A LEVANTAR LOS MUROS...

Sustainable Designer, Nick Oosterveen, shows us his latest bamboo home! Tucked into an edible landscape and built on green values, this masterpiece defines sustainable living! Cast: Bamboo Living

A short film that captures the incredible speed and excitement of a Bamboo Living home going up! This "mean, green bamboo rising team" puts up two beautiful homes in just two days! Cast: Bamboo Living

A huge storm packed the foothills with snow last night. The snowfall has made for some very unique photo opportunities in the Jungle Supply Bamboo Garden . We were surprised to find some of our tall bamboo plants to be leaning over because of the weight of the snow. Although bamboo does well with strong winds from the side, the extra weight of the snow caused the plants caused the plants to lean over. This storm has reminded us of the importance of 'winter timing' when planting bamboo. A...

My girlfriend and I attended Phish Festival 8 in late October, and we had a blast. The event was held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. It was a 3 day event and Phish played a total of 8 sets throughout the weekend. In the main stage area, there were a series of bamboo towers that surrounded the stage. At night the towers spewed out giant flames making for a really exciting visual display. At night the bamboo towers were light up with different colored lights. The band ...

Have you ever heard of Bamboo Baseball Bats? Believe it or not, Bamboo Bats are actually a much better choice than traditional Maple or Oak. Maple bats are strong, but have a tendency to shatter, often endangering fans and players. They shatter because they are made from a solid piece of material. The most common bamboo bats on the market today are hybrids that containt both bamboo and maple components. As you can see form the picture, the bamboo pieces are compressed to create a ...

I would like to share an interesting piece of Artwork that incorporates Bamboo. This is actually a dried gourd with bamboo rings attached to the outside. The artist used completely organic materials to make a very unique piece of art. I always love to see unique bamboo art, so if you have any ideas or suggestions please leave a comment.

Masuelli Bamboo Bicycles are manufactured here in California, and are truly a piece of art. The bike frames are extremely strong and can withstand a great deal of punishment. The amazing natural prosperities of bamboo provide these bikes with both strength and a smooth ride. Not to mention, bamboo is an eco-friendly product, and Masuelli Bamboo Bikes rely on 100% California Grown Bamboo . Bamboo bikes have been used throughout the world for many years and are starting to become more popula...

Q: How do I Identify the Bamboo Growing in my Garden? Bamboo is a notoriously difficult plant to identify. Most species of bamboo have similar characteristics, with only subtle differences distinguishing the various species. Certain bamboo types are easily distinguishable, such as Black Bamboo or Leopard Bamboo . These varieties have striking color features that make them easy to identify. You can start by checking out the Am erican Bamboo Society Source List. This source ...

Gib Cooper November 27 at 6:58pm Un proyecto cooperativo financiado en común por Association de la horticultura zoológica (AZH) y los bambúes de las Américas (BOTA) bajo supervisión de Jorge Lezcano de la Universidad de Panamá. Por Jorge Lezcano, 26 de noviembre de 2009 Los bambúes son gramíneas que conforman un componente común en los bosques de [...]

Gib Cooper November 27 at 6:59pm A cooperative project jointly funded by Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH) and Bamboo of the Americas (BOTA) under the supervision of Jorge Lezcano of University of Panama. By Jorge Lezcano (Edited by Gib Cooper) November 26, 2009) Bamboos are forest grasses that form a common component of neotropical ecosystems. In Panama bamboos [...]

Mike Bostwick, Director de la Asociación de Horticultura en el Parque Zoológico de San Diego está colaborando con el Director de BOTA, Gib Cooper e Iris Rojas, Directora del Jardín Botánico del Parque Zoológico de Panamá en el desarrollo de un plan de asistencia para renovar los senderos de bambú del jardín botánico. El Parque Municipal [...]

Mike Bostwick, Associate Horticulture Director at the San Diego Zoo is collaborating with BOTA Director, Gib Cooper, and Iris Rojas, Administrator of Summit Zoo Botanical Garden in Panama to assist in developing a plan for renovating the botanical garden's Bamboo Walk. Summit Municipal Park was created in 1923 as an experimental tropical garden administered by the [...]

Dentro del marco de realización del Congreso Forestal Mundial que se celebrará en Buenos Aires, Argentina del 18 al 23 de octubre del presente año, se realizarán las siguientes actividades relacionadas con el bambú esperando que todos ustedes asistan. Creo que es una buena oportunidad para participar, opinar y obtener conclusiones para mejorar el trabajo [...]

Discovery Network's Renovation Nation on the Planet Green channel came to Maui not long ago to film a feature segment on a new Bamboo Structure. Prefabricated in Viet Nam by Bamboo Living, it will be used by the Hana School as a workshop for building small homes for local elders. Cast: Bamboo Living , samsmall

Think you know what a bamboo home looks like? Think again. Take the 3D tour of the RAND house and see the future of green building. Cast: Bamboo Living

Cast: Bamboo Living

Shot by filmmaker Sam Small in a home built by Bamboo Living on Maui, Hunter Lovins talks about how residential and commercial structures can integrate Structural Bamboo as part of an integrated plan that will help communities grow while removing carbon from the atmosphere. Founder and president of Natural Capitalism Solutions, Inc., Hunter Lovins educates senior decision-makers in business, government and civil society to restore and enhance the natural and human capital while increasi...

What does a bamboo home look like? You might be surprised. Check out these beautiful dwellings by yogi architect David Sands AIA, innovator of the worlds' first ICC-ES code certified bamboo homes, and a Leed accredited professional. Grow your own house, help save the earth, and live in something that's as organic as you are. Cast: Bamboo Living , samsmall

Well, spring is just about here. The most common complaint that people express about bamboo is its rapid growth. In order to enjoy the plant's beauthy, growers must use control methods to keep the plant from spreading. There are two types of bamboo, runners and clumpers . Running bamboo is the stuff you have to watch out for. Your best bet is to install a bamboo rhizome barrier. This method requires that you dig a trench around the perimeter of the plant and insert an plastic panel. Read more ...

How Fast does Bamboo Grow? Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world (fastest growing plant on land that is). They say it grows so quickly that you can hear it. Under optimum conditions, bamboo has been recorded growing up to 46 inches per day. That's nearly 4 feet! The plant will reach its maximum height and girth after a single season of growth, which can be close to 100 feet tall and 8 inches wide. A bamboo plant produces about 5 times more "Bio-Mass" than your average tree. Learn...

Here's a great recipe for a delicious cold bamboo shoot salad. Bamboo shoots can be purchased at specialty and ethnic markets. Ideally, you want to buy fresh shoots, but this is not always possibly in some locations. If you can't buy the fresh shoots the canned version will suffice. Ingredients 100g bamboo shoots 100g yellow savoy cabbage leaves 100g lettuce 3 carrots 3 spring onions 3 tomatoes 2 radishes 2 cloves of garlic 1 slice of root ginger 2 teaspoons each of vinegar, ...

Bamboo flooring is a great alternative to other common hardwood floor options. When it comes to hardwood flooring, bamboo an exotic and beautiful choice. Not only is it durable, but is also resistant to moisture and insects. Most importantly, it's eco-friendly. In fact, the  United States Green Building Council 's  LEED  program will award points for the use of bamboo flooring. Here are few reasons you might want to choose bamboo for your next remodel.  1. Resistant to bugs and insects.  2....

So I wasn't 100% happy with the original design of Complete Bamboo . I decied to use one of the backup designes I was working on a few months ago. The new design is much more eye-catching and way more efficient from a web design perspecitive. The content is also laid out better. There are still a few features to add and bugs to work out, but overall I'm happy with the finished product.

Bamboo fabric is a great alternative to traditional textiles found in the US, such as cotton and polyester. The popularity of bamboo fabric has been growing rapidly due to the simple fact that it is superior to traditional fabrics. It is stronger and more absorbent than cotton, making it useful as clothing. It has the appeal of natural fabrics like hemp or wool, but does not cause allergic reactions. Bamboo clothing will suck up moisture from the skin and allow it to evaporate. Actually, it ...

CompleteBamboo.com was launched today. This will be a great resource for anyone interested in growing or learning about bamboo. We hope to cover many more topics in the coming months and add a whole bunch more content. The bamboo species list which is currently in the works will be perhaps the most comprehensive on the web. A huge thanks goes out the Jungle Supply Company of Sacramento, California. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. There is still plenty of work to be done. Check b...