Our Bamboo News

March

Thursday 3/13/08

Today, we delivered to William in New Orleans, LA. This is a new house that had been rebuilt after the flood. Their neighbors are also rebuilding and they need bamboo to provide privacy for their new home.

This is the raised bed for planting the bamboo and installing the barrier that William has constructed. This is a great way to help control bamboo and accelerate your screen. They chose Phyllostachys Aurea to give them the desired screening effect.

Here you can see the large house being built by their neighbors. The bamboo will provide privacy for everybody and help add more beauty to this tropical backyard. In the picture is William, holding his son Blaise. We really appreciate their business and hope they enjoy their new bamboo.

February

Saturday 2/26/08

Today, we started a project with a local municipality. This is Mr. Vann, the director of parks and recreations of a nearby community. They desire screening from local developers encroaching on parks and publics works.

They are also looking in developing a natural area for children to explore that will be full of giant timber bamboo. This is a very proactive city with plans to reduce their carbon footprint and become more environmentally conscious.

This is a part of the initial purchase. It will be a small demonstration of the benefits of bamboo. With great proactive thinkers, a growing city can provide ascetics values and also do their part to become more carbon neutral. This benefits developers, residents, potential new residents, and the rest of the world. We really appreciate their stance and hope to be able to assist in any future endeavours.

Saturday 2/23/08

Today, the Irvine family made a return visit. They live a few miles away in Homewood, Alabama and wanted to add the giant Moso to their bamboo collection. We enjoyed their visit again and hope to see big bamboo in Homewood soon.

Saturday and Sunday 2/16 & 2/17/2008

Craig and Kathy stopped by for a visit on Saturday and Sunday. They live in Nashville, TN where he is a musician. Currently, they have Yellow Groove bamboo and were looking for ways to control it. They purchased barrier to help with this.

We showed them how bamboo grows and hopefully fostered their love for the plant. They looked at many species and decided to purchase some Shibataea Kumasaca 'Ruscus Bamboo'. They even returned the following day to purchase more before they made their trip home. We had a good time on the tour and really enjoyed their visits.

Saturday 2/9/08

We had multiple customers visit us this Saturday. First was Rosie and Klare from Nashville, TN. They stopped by on their way to Birmingham, AL. They selected some Golden Bamboo to be mail ordered to them. We really had a nice visit with them and appreciate them making time for us on their trip.

Billy and Darlyne visited from local Fayette, AL today. They have an erosion control problem. Bamboo is a colony plant and is great for erosion control. As seen from the picture, we use Indocalamus Tessellatus to hold the soil on some steep areas of our riverbank.

Tuesday 2/5/08

   Today David came by from Jacksonville, Florida. He is leaving his trailer for us to load the plants that he selected for his landscaping needs. David was able to pick his loaded trailer back up on Friday on his way back to Florida.

David picked out some great division of Phyllostachys nigra 'Black', Phyllostachys nigra Henon 'Giant Gray', Phyllostachys Aurea 'Golden Bamboo', and Phyllostachys Viridis 'Robert Young'. This will be a colorful planting. Thanks for the order and we hope you enjoy your bamboo.

January

Monday 1/28/08  

We get a lot of customer comments, but this next one was really great to hear what they had to say. It is wonderful when you sell something that can really help people. It was an e-mail with attached pictures and text.....

We recently ordered some Moso bamboo from you, and my husband had

mentioned to you that we believe that our Golden Bamboo (from Lewis

Bamboo) had saved our lives in Hurricane Ivan. You requested some

pictures, so here they are.

We had bought some bamboo (back around 2000) with the intention of

creating privacy and a sound-barrier. We planted eight tiny plants,

and everyone in the neighborhood laughed at our sad little twigs.

Just as they say, it slept, crept, and finally leapt. Sadly, we don't

have many before pictures as they were destroyed along with the

computers during the hurricane.

The morning after the hurricane, we ventured outside to assess the damage. (Having spent the night up to our waists in storm-surge.) You can see how thick and lush the bamboo had become, and you can also see that it acted as a break for the waves that were rolling in from the sea. The bamboo was the only barrier between us and the sea, as there is a road across the street from us that comes straight from the water and joins the road we live on. It's my belief that had the bamboo not been there, the waves and debris would have smashed into our house.

This is another view from the right side of our property. You can see the debris that is piled up in our front yard. These are all items that were washed into our property from the homes that were gutted by the hurricane. (Yeah, that's my car in the picture.)

The bamboo didn't appreciate all that briny water it had to soak in all night, so within days it went into some serious stress. This is a view from our old house, looking towards the road. You can see the new shoots coming up.

This picture was taken earlier this year. The bamboo has recovered to its former glory and is now enclosed in a circular driveway. I have plenty more pictures if you want them. :-) Deborah Gulf Breeze, FL

Sunday 1/13/08

  In January 2007, we purchased an additional 48 acres on Wolf Creek. Over the past twelve months, we have been planting large divisions of bamboo. To date we have 104 species now planted on this recently acquired property. Over the next few months we will be posting new photos of these groves.

Preston lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama which is about 38 miles from our Nursery. He knew he could grow 'Moso' and wants to have some really big canes of bamboo.

Here I am explaining how bamboo emerges from the ground the diameter that the cane will be at maturity. They honestly look like missiles coming out of the ground in the Spring.

Preston was impressed with the size of the 'Moso' but equally with the color of the 'Robert Young'. He chose to get some plants of both species.

        In a few years, Preston should have some impressive groves of both species that he selected. Thanks again for your visit.

 Friday 1/10/08

Lana and Gale came by from Missouri to reserve bamboo plants for Spring shipping.

They were real excited about seeing all the bamboo. Because we start going wide open the first of March, they wanted to know which species will work best for their applications.

After seeing some of the really large pots of bamboo, they want to come back and pick up some of those.   Thanks for your visit and we look forward to seeing you again in the Spring.

Wednesday 1/02/08

The Carrusco's braved the cold temps to come by the nursery and pick up some bamboo plants on their way back home to Tallahassee, Florida.

They are the first visitors of the new year and were excited about the opportunity to grow bamboo. They purchased some timber and ornamental bamboos. For their timber bamboo selection, they chose Phyllostachy Viridis 'Robert Young' and Phyllostachy Nigra Henon 'Giant Gray'. They also chose Phyllostachys Nigra 'Black' and Sasa Palmata.

 We enjoyed your visit and hope you had a good trip home.