Can you apply to much mulch?

[entm]

I have applied 4 to 8 inches of leaves around all of my small bamboos over the last month or so. Can there be to much mulch when they are ready to start shooting? I am hoping to see some good growth this year.

[yard e]

I think the average is about 4 to 6, max is probably about 8. I usually do about 4" or however mulch i got. Don't think you should have a problem with shooting. This is only what i've read. I always like to leave an air gap between ANY plant so not to suffocate. PLants need to get oxygen to the base in order to be able to breathe.

[Tarzanus]

Mulch can attract voles, mice and other critters that will gladly take a quick bite. 8 inches might be overkill, but I don't think it would do any harm to bamboo or the shoots. I usually mulch to keep the soil moist and properly shaded during the summer and I mulched heavily during the winter to protect the bamboo from freezing to death. I succeeded to keep it fresh and green up to the mulch pile level (everything above that is most likely top killed because of killer polar front we've had this winter), but it also attracted one of already mentioned rodents. More than half of the small branches were taken away with leaves still attached. I noticed some of the mulch was also taken away. I think they have a nest somewhere close fully stocked with food.

[stevelau1911]

I add as much compost I want.

Here, my dulcis will probably take many years to take up this much space, but since this stuff is free, I don't mind adding it on because it doesn't hurt. I've never had any critters, and when I add this much, it keeps the weeds out.

[Alan_L]

Steve -- that looks more like manure than compost. I've not seen compost clump like that -- it's usually quite loose.

[stevelau1911]

It is made out of mostly tree leaves, grass clippings, some garden scraps, and since I had a few tons of it, the compaction and heat has caused it to clump together, but when there's only a foot or so of it on each bamboo, it usually breaks down pretty quick, and creates sort of a raised mound.

I do have access to manure as well, but I have too much stuff around the bamboos at this point to consider stacking even more.

[jhndrx]

dulcis bamboo.. isn't that also called sweet shoot? looks pretty nice but i would definitely try to break some clumps up for ease of growth.

[canadianplant]

Every winter, I put 2 feet of leaves on my bamboo as protection. This also means, I leave some leaves on the ground when I remove the tarp/winter protection. The only "problem", if you can say it is, is that it slows down the rate at which the ground heats up, and cools off.

I leave roughly 4 inches of multch, on top of my "living mulch" (ground cover) of clover. THis is right up to my bamboo and herbaceous plants. For my "woody" plants (trees, shrubs etc), I usually leave a few inches away from the trunk in the spring.

[David]

I don't use any mulch. It's a recipe for disaster, and at the very least contributes to bamboo that is dependent on human intervention to survive. Mulch promotes shallow roots, and rhizomes on an already shallow rooted plant. It provides shelter and easy access for rodents to live and eat well on tender bamboo. As bamboo matures it anchors itself firmly to the ground to counteract wind load forces. Mulch promotes and provides a weak anchor for mature bamboo and results in unstable culms that tend to flop over with the first big wind. Mature bamboo groves are self mulching.

I guess it depends on your bamboo goals. My goal is to have large groves of mature bamboo, and I have found that mulch ultimately has a negative impact in that regard.

If quick propagation is ones bamboo goal then mulch works very well to provide nutrients for fast growth. Mulch and compost make a soft, easy to work and dig growing medium for small plants and rhizomes. Just remember, however, that a family of voles or mice can wipe out all your efforts in short order.

If you must mulch for moisture control, use medium sized sand and soil free river gravel.

[jpluddite]

David,

I'm starting to share your opinion about mulch, as voles are attacking my boo.

You mentioned compost in the same category as mulch. Do you find that it's as troublesome as mulch?

If you don't use mulch and don't use compost, what do you use instead?

Cheers,

jp

[Alan_L]

David -- would your strategy change if you had less space to grow, and were confining your "groves" to a 6' diameter area or so?

[David]

JP- I just let them mulch themselves with their leaves. During the summer and fall I mow with the discharge toward the bamboo and that kind of mulches the edge of the grove to make it look neater, and the nitrogen rich grass is good time released bamboo food.

Alan- I don't think so in regard to deep mulch, but I might use a 1 or 2" of mulch (at the most) just to make it look a little more dressed out. I've just had bad luck with voles and unstable bamboo, so now I don't mulch any bamboo.

[Markj]

If I had enough I'd pile two foot round each plant, at 52 degrees north and with little summer heat they need as much help as possible. Although we don't get any critters underground having a picnic...

It dose seem to help getting some fresh grass clippings into the mix to try and warm things up a little.....

[sully0family]

I know I've read that Brad doesn't mulch either. It would be great if I didn't have to add it. My question is, what about the winter? I thought rhizomes risk being frozen to death

[David]

Rhizomes as a general rule are considerably more hardy than the culms. Choose hardy bamboo that will survive in your climate such as bissetii, any of the aureosulcata family, and atrovaginata, and you will not need mulch to help them survive. If the culms of a chosen bamboo can survive winter without being covered then the rhizomes can certainly survive without mulch. The whole idea of piling on copious amounts of mulch to help bamboo survive the winter is just delaying the inevitable in that the bamboo will become too large and too extensive to continue the costly and time consuming chore of mulching.

If it dies, it dies. Remove the corpse and try something more hardy in its place. IMHO the only purpose for mulch is moisture retention, weed control and to make the planting look nice. Mulching for winter survival will eventually fail, and you will have wasted all that time on a marginal plant you should not have tried in the first place. OK. That was harsh, but has been true in my case.

Spreading a thin layer of shredded bamboo and compost is good for the plant, but around my place compost goes in the vegetable garden first.