A hand built black bamboo bicycle

Joel, a customer from Knoxville, Tennessee, sent pictures of his hand built bamboo bicycle using our Domestically Grown Designer Quality Polished Bamboo Poles. 

Joel's project required poles of very specific diameters : 1", 1 3/8", 1 3/4" and 1 1/4"

Building a bamboo bicycle requires poles of very specific diameters.  For most out-of-state customers we select the poles according to their specifications, package them up and ship by FedEx but it is always best if a customer can select the poles in person.  That's what Joel chose to do.  He drove to our nursery from Tennessee in order to hand-pick the black bamboo poles he wanted. He even brought along a cordless jigsaw and lots of blades to cut the poles down so they'd fit in the trunk of his car.

"I've finished the bamboo bike from the poles I picked out at your wonderful farm," Joel wrote in an email accompanying his photos.

When is the best time to plant bamboo?

Bamboo can be planted year round

 
People often ask when they should plant bamboo.  An email in today's inbox is typical:

I have a small area where I would like to plant bamboo for privacy purposes...the space is about 20 feet.  What is the best time to plant?

My response is that bamboo can be planted year round. 

Spring or summer is an immediate-gratification time to plant because you see above-ground growth soon, shortly after installation.

If planted in the fall/winter, you have to wait longer to see above-ground growth because new shoots emerge in the warm summer months.  But planting in the fall/winter also has its advantages.  It gives the roots a longer time to get established.

With bamboo, it's all about the roots.  Well established roots produce taller, larger diameter more plentiful shoots in the summer growing season.

Another Beautiful Bamboo wedding arbor

I recently received these pictures of an arbor built by one of our customers for their beach wedding:

A long view of the wedding arbor on the beach before the ceremony

Four upright poles, four cross poles plus two additional poles for added support in the back

Plenty of room underneath the arbor for everyone to fit

A patio display of bamboo poles

Perry, a customer from South Florida, sent the following 4 pictures of his bamboo poles purchased to create a very specific looking patio display. 

Because he lived over 3 hours from our nursery, Perry was unable to visit Beautiful Bamboo to pick out the poles himself.  Instead, like many of our customers, he selected poles based on our online photos and descriptions.  Once the order was finalized,  they were shipped to his location. 

Perry selected 15 of our 2" diameter Domestically Grown Designer Quality poles to fill 3 large outdoor vases.  He had very specific requirements that the poles be honey-colored as described on our webpage.

When the poles first arrived, Perry was disappointed because instead of having the honey-colored tone he expected, they had a slight khaki-colored tint.  When he called, I explained that the poles had been freshly cut and then "cooked", which is what brings out their shiny "polished look."

I told Perry that over the next couple weeks the khaki color would change into the honey tones he desired.  Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. 

Creating a serene wall of privacy

I received this letter with accompanying photos from Larry, a customer in Orlando who purchased two 3-gal containers of Emerald Clumping Bamboo in November 2008.  Larry remembers that when he first bought the bamboo one container had 3 thin canes, the other had 4 and both were only about 4' tall.  The plants have certainly grown in the 2 years since they were planted:

Here is how my bamboo looks. It’s a serene wall of privacy. I’m back to watering it every day and will be out to see you for another 6 pounds of fertilizer before the spring!

 The secret to my success was following your and Ralph’s instructions to the letter!

·         I bought

o   your mulch/planting mixture in which to plant the clumps into the ground, and the number of bags you recommended, and

o   the fertilizer you sell.

·         I watered twice a day every day for an hour until our natural rainy season got underway.

·         I fertilize faithfully every six months and still water once or twice daily during the dry season.

We were still in the dry, winter season when the first, new canes began to emerge … about three months ahead of when we expected them to.

The bamboo has grown into a living privacy wall and is a source of serenity, great pleasure, and pride.

Freshly cut green poles

A repeat customer from CA who is an event planner ordered some freshly cut green bamboo poles of various diameters to be shipped to New Orleans for a convention display.  The bamboos had to arrive at a specific date and, because green poles were required, the canes needed to be cut and packaged the morning they were to be picked up by the shipping company. Beautiful Bamboo was happy to accommodate their needs.

Timmy cuts some 2" diameter poles from a mature stand of Bambusa textilis mutabilis (Emerald)

Timber!

The poles are checked for straightness

An assortment of freshly cut bamboo poles is about ready to be packaged and shipped to New Orleans