Bamboo: The Great Green Hope

by Daniel E. Walsh  Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series

“And in snowfall there is the gentlest of tinkling as ten thousand ice crystals bounce down from leaf to leaf.”
~Earle Barnhart

Earle Barnhart wrote those words at the end of a magazine article as homage to Chinese poets who wrote about the bamboo plant. The words were inspired by his own bamboo plants that he had nurtured to 25-foot heights outside his house on Cape Cod. He was a founding member of the New Alchemy Institute, an organization in existence from 1971 to 1991 that studied ecologically derived human support systems. Bamboo with its multifaceted uses attracted his attention; a superstar of sustainability as Barnhart called the grass. Yeah, it’s grass.

Half the people in the world today would concur. That’s because they rely on bamboo daily in one or other of its permutations. Laborers in China work high above the ground on scaffolding built from bamboo. Around the world, diners eat the shoots as part of Oriental cuisine. Americans click heels across lustrous bamboo hardwood floors. Yards are fenced with its poles. Some simply marvel at the beauty of plant and feature it in their homes and gardens. There are 2000 varieties from 1-foot dwarf versions to the 60 to 80 foot giants that are home to the panda.

The American Bamboo Society is an organization devoted to the admirers of the plant. Paul Schneider writing on the society’s website describes his largely successful attempts at growing the plant here in New England, in the Plant Hardiness Zone 4. He notes that the major complaint about bamboo is its rhizome system’s (roots) tendency to spread. Once spread, removal is very difficult which attests to the plant’s resiliency. The passion and wonder of the subject is very apparent is Mr. Schneider’s story of his trials and errors.

Bamboo is usually associated with tropical climes but there many varieties of the plant. Native to North America are the canebrake and switch cane. They were largely eradicated as homesteading spread because of their tendency to take over the richest soil.

Bamboo has astonishing regenerative powers, rising to harvestable maturity in just 3 ½ to 5 years. The mighty oak, a hardwood tree traditionally used for flooring, takes a cool 120 years to reach its maturity. The destruction of the oak brings a far greater shock to the surrounding ecosystem than the bamboo. There are other benefits—not only is bamboo flooring comparably attractive, it is less dust producing, emits less formaldehyde vapor, and is harder than oak flooring.

Interesting, pleasing to the eye, stalwart, bounteous, useful and greatly sustainable. There is little wonder then that a humble grass can invite great awe and evoke such poetic notions.

For further reading: The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to this Remarkable Plant, its Uses, and its History, by David Farrelly

Comments

[bamboo garden products]

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[Heather Burns-DeMelo]

Invasive plants are causing the alarming decline of bees, grasshoppers, and thousands of other insects. That, in turn, has depleted our native bird populations.

What's important to remember is that the leaf chemistry of native plants is designed by nature to appeal to and work well with the digestive tracts of the native insects that ingest and reproduce on them.

On the contrary, alien plants are not digestible for native insects, and because native species are ultra adaptable and spread like wild fire - like mentioned in the post above - they take over the habitat of native species, leaving nowhere for insects to feed nor reproduce.

When we introduce non-native plants, we are greatly increasing the ecological imbalance of nature -- for our backyards and thousands of miles away. Read Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy for loads of incredible information and practical solutions about how to bring out native eco systems back into balance by starting at home.

[Bamboo Floor Coverings]

The plant is not only a great building material that is highly sustainable due to it's rapid growth, it is also beautiful in any form - from a garden plant to bamboo flooring.

[MA Roofing]

I love the bamboo located in my neighborhood. It's so tranquil. Plus it does make for great (and soft) flooring.