Preparing for winter

[Clark]

When is the best time to bend and cover my bamboo? Are there any techniques to give bamboo planted this year, some help in experiencing their first (and hopefully not last) Minnesota winter?

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

bend?

[Roy]

bend?

Yes, "bend"! This is Minnesota,Z4a

[CadyG]

I think you could wait until early December for the serious stuff like bending and covering. If the culms are bigger than whips, you may want to do it before the daytime temps are consistently below freezing and the culms are still more pliant.

[mito0]

depending on what sort of bamboo it is, leave it exposed until temperatures begin to dip down near or below its hardiness rating and cover it at that point. then, when when temperatures get back up near its hardiness range, uncover it and let it soak up the sun.

for instance, if it's bissetii, wait until the forecast shows temperatures falling below zero and cover it up. after temps get back up into the 20s or so, uncover it. you don't want to choke off the sunlight all winter.

one technique that i use with some of my younger plants is to surround the plant with some of that cheap wire fencing that people use around flowerbeds. once winter hits, fill it up with straw or some other insulation. this'll let you really pile the mulch nice and deep to protect the lower part of the culms as well as the root system while allowing the top part of the plant to photosynthesize all winter long. then, when a big bad burst of canadian air comes down, just fill a garbage bag with leaves and put it on upside down over the exposed culms and tie it off at the bottom. voila! i did this last year with a young japonica when temps fell down to -6F and it worked great. no damage at all.

[boonut]

-6F.... What's that???

[mito0]

yeah, it's ridiculous to think that, way down here in texas, i live in a colder zone than parts of alaska and newfoundland....

[Clark]

Thanks for the info. I have Nuda, Bissetti, Atrovaginata, Rubro, Spectalibis, and Yellow Groove. All were planted this year, the latest being the begining of September.

[Eastlandia]

Im building minature temparary greenhouses around my species this year. Mulch with leaves up to a point then put a glass or plastic box on top of the decaying matter. I dont know how to keep it warm during the really cold nights...but I think you have more to worry about than me. Clark, where about are you in the state? -eastlandia

[mito0]

a word of warning about nuda... i keep hearing about this being hardy to -20F, but i've never heard of anyone with actual first-hand experience with anything even close to this level of hardiness. i've also found it to be especially sensitive to cold winter winds, so beware. mine had 100% topkill at -6F and never recovered. it sent up two pitifully small shoots in the spring and promptly died. meanwhile, several boo supposedly hardy only to 0 or -5F survived winter with hardly any ill effects at all. don't believe the hardiness hype!

[Clark]

I live about 45miles NW of the Minneapolis.

[mantis]

I live about 45miles NW of the Minneapolis.

Elk River? I grew up in Champlin and went to school in Anoka.

[Thuja]

Brrr...

[CadyG]

Here in zone 6b, nuda has had complete leaf-kill at above-zero temperatures. Just having a prolongued dry wind on a sub-freezing (but above-zero) day is all it takes to desiccate the leaves.

Even bissetii, which seems bulletproof, can lose leaves in those conditions. Last winter, temps here didn't go below +4F, but my bissetiis lost around half their leaves. No culm loss though.

By contrast, the rubro had no leaf death, though planted nearby and in the same wind path.

If you use anti-desiccants, you have to be consistent, reapplying them every month in December, January, February and perhaps early March in Minnesota.

[Clark]

Very good guess, Big Lake(9 miles further west of Elk River).

Anti-desiccants??

Hey Thuja, what do you do to help keep the Brrrrrrr off of the Boo??