2004

1994

Written by & Roger Lewis Jr. of Lewis Bamboo Inc.
Gayle & Roger Lewis Sr. of Bamboo Design

Our bamboo friends, David and Beth, returned from Tennessee for more bamboo.
With the species they added today, their collection comes to 33 different types.
I told David once you cross over 30 species, you have to accept there is a problem.
Bamboo is a great habit that you can sit back and enjoy the rest of your life.
In no time they will be strolling through their own groves.  Sitting in the serenity
of the swaying bamboo and the rustling leaves is hard to describe. In today's fast
pace life styles, there is nothing like the calming of a quiet bamboo grove.

 
Above left to right shows, Roger Jr., David, Roger Sr. and Beth in a grove.
To the right, Beth looks in mystery at the square formed Moso.



Above we are standing in front of the 'Black' 15 gallon size holding area
and then looking at a clumping bamboo that has finally adjusted, after six years,
to our cool Alabama climate.


The loading got underway and we finished up in under a hour. David's own
device was used to stabilize and suspend the bamboo. It worked out fine and
saved him from hauling the trailer he usually brings.

Thanks, David and Beth and we hope you return soon. Our 3 month old
grand daughter, Harper, says a special thanks for the Teddy Bear you so
thoughtfully brought to her. You meet the nicest people in the bamboo world!



We do not say much about Russell, shown above, as he is
usually in the background working hard. We do appreciate
all help and Russell has been by for our best worker. He shows a
genuine interest in bamboo and has learned many species.
He has realized that it is a learning experience for all of us.  We
are all still learning about this complicated grass with its many
species and characteristics. Again, thanks Russell for all the hard
work you do in the mists of the bamboo groves.

Saturday we returned from another bamboo trip. This one took us to Georgia.
Below the truck and trailer loaded waits in Walmart parking lot as we pick up
supplies. Today, Tuesday the 24th., we began work on an upcoming delivery.
This bamboo trip will take us to Brookport, Illinois.

  

The order will consist of several bamboo species. The one and only 'Anderson'
Moso cold hardy to -6 F. will be dug.  There is a Bambusoides 'Slender Crookstem'
seen in the above left photo. This specimen has a 3.0 inch diameter
cane attached to this 30 gallon root mass. Its total weigh was 285 pounds.
As you can see, there is nothing slender or crooked about this giant bamboo.

 

 

There will also be large field specimens sizes of P. rubromarginata,
P. viridis 'Robert Young', P. viridis, P. n. Henon 'Giant Gray',
P. aureosulcata 'Yellow Groove' some Sasa Palmata and the giant
and rare Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis' seen below right.

 
Agriculture Inspection Certificates are already in place on several species
and the others will be done later. We will be delivering this order at the end
of February.

Today Roger Jr. is on a delivery to Demopolis, Alabama.  Another customer like
Darrel who visited from TN. on the 13th. has taken advantage of the 15 gallon
size Moso we have available. The client from Demopolis ordered enough to
start a massive grove of the largest temperate bamboo.

In April 2004, one hundred ( see seedlings.html ) and sixty of our largest 3 gallon
sizes were moved into 15 gallon size containers after producing nice 8 to 10 foot
canes. 
 

In March and April of 2005, these Moso produced multiple canes in the 10
to 14 foot height range. This year these will produce even more canes and they
will be 16 to 20 foot tall. These 15 gallon sizes are $150 to $175 currently. The
cost will go up after this shooting season due to the over all size of these
specimens. Delivery, wrapping for wind protection during transport and B&B
of these 100 pound specimens will make them more difficult to handle.
The stock we do not sell this year will be planted for more groves to propagate divisions from.

drove down to visit several bamboo
farms in Alabama. Darrel, Lisa and River had previously grew bamboo and were
adding new species to their collection plus viewing some of the largest groves of
bamboo in the southeast.
 

Above left they wander through one of our P. v. 'Robert Young' groves and
then check out some P. vivax with Roger Jr.

  
They visited Steve Ray's Bamboo Gardens and also Jim Mortensen at jmbamboo
earlier on the trip. It was a Field Trip and learning experience for River because
they home school him.

 

Below right, Darrell and River inspect the square Moso project with Roger Jr.
River rolls around with our little puppy in a grove over looking the Wolf Creek.

    

Darrel chose two of the 15 gallon containers of Moso that had great rhizome
growth. In addition to their collect, some S. fastuosa 'Japanese Palm' or 'Temple
Bamboo', Sasa Tsuboiana, P viridis 'Pigskin' and some large Sasa Palmata were
selected. They visited several hours and were loaded up for the trip home before dark.

Russell Crowe and Roger Jr. toured them all around and said they enjoyed
the entire visit.  We hope they enjoy the bamboo for many years and visit
us again soon.

Yesterday we delivered an order of Phyllostachys aurea 'Golden' to a new customer
in Bessemer, Alabama. The 50 bamboo specimens were purchased by
TotalScape Farms. They are located within the 50 miles radius of our Nursery
for free delivery. It has been very  helpful to a lot of our customers to have no
delivery charge to Birmingham and the surrounding cities.  You can see more
pictures by clicking on their site on our Commercial pages of our Bamboo News
index page.



 
This landscaper has a pretty big operation and serves many
sites through out Alabama. Above, they are unloading the bamboo
from our trailer. The bamboo plants will be delivered to TotalScape's
customer and planted in the next week.

They chose 50 of the untopped 3 gallon divisions of Phyllostachys aurea 'Golden'
which were 8 to 10 feet in height.
 

    
Roger Jr. with friend and employee, Russell Crowe,  were given a tour of
their operation. They toured several greenhouses and other areas of the
business.  Roger, my son and now owner of Lewis Bamboo is always learning
and expanding our business. With his eye always on the future Roger Jr. stays
on top of things and is always finding new creative methods to save cost in his
business operations.

It was a pleasure to do business with TotalScape and we look forward to more
bamboo orders from them shortly.

Hey you guys,
Thought you might like to see a picture of your great, great grandbabies in  their winter wonderland.

Hope you all are doing well and are prospering. Our Bamboo is doing very well. These shots were taken around Christmas.

Diana and I started another business about a year ago and have been very busy.check it out some time:

 Best wishes to you and yours in this New Year

Darrel & Diana
Marshall, Michigan                        

January 7th.  2006

Our current inventory of P. nigra 'Black' 3 gallon sizes are about all promised. The Spring
inventory will be ready to ship in late March so you may have to reserve them now for
shipping later. There are still some 15 gallon sizes you can pick up here or we can delivery.
We hope you enjoy our work photos and those of many customers who visit our
bamboo gardens. We wish to thank everyone for another wonderful year doing what we love so much.

Below left shows one of our 4 x 4 trucks loaded with 18 foot tall bamboo field divisions.
In the right photo shows another method we utilize to prevent wind damage occurring
during transport. Leaves are tightly packed around the root balls and covered with
a cargo net.

 

Below we have cleared another two acres for the expansion of our holding site for
bamboo in containers.

Above in the back ground you can see bamboo everywhere. A large grove of 'Moso'
is seen in the above right photo which stands over 70 feet in height.

 
Above, Roger Sr. works the loader in the left photo unloading hardwood sawdust.
Super rich composted chicken manure is being unloaded in the right photo.


 

Below, with a full bucket, Roger Sr. turns the soil mixing in "our special blend"
to make the bamboo divisions grow fast and healthy. We use plenty of our own
river silt taken from Wolf Creek where we are located. A ratio of composted
hardwood sawdust, sand and composted leaves are mixed with the chicken manure.