A
Lewis Bamboo Valued Customer
Memphis Zoo
Memphis, TN.
In
the Fall of 2001, we were happy to hear
we had been chosen to supply the Memphis Zoo with bamboo divisions to
plant for the new arrivals at their zoo. Here are a few pictures of
the trucks
loaded
with 540+ divisions of Phyllostachys rubromarginata and Phyllostachys
aurea that were
delivered. It was very exciting that the pandas were coming and
that we had a part in developing the bamboo for their diet. All these
divisions were planted to begin the bamboo groves that would some day
feed the pandas.
It took 5 weeks to dig all the divisions
ordered by the zoo staff. Below is less than 50
of the 540 divisions
dug and stabilized over a period of two months.
There were two
trucks used in this delivery. The first truck was loaded
completely
with
Phyllostachys rubromarginata. The bed size of this
first truck
is 8'X 25' and held
over 300 divisions of the P. rubromarginata. The average
height of these plants was six feet, but many were over
10 feet in height. The
root balls
were around 12 inches across and weigh around 20 to 30 pounds
each.
Below are photos of just a few of the total 540 divisions
we delivered to the zoo.
After both
were loaded and the trip was
done,
we were met by several truck loads of zoo
workers ready to take over. They transfered all the plants onto
pickup trucks to transport to
the large fields for planting.
A bobcat had been very busy
and had
nearly
all the holes
prepared for planting. It was a very cold, windy January
day
in
Memphis,
Tennessee and the workwas uncomfortable. It
took several hours and a lot of man
power, but
the work was
completed that same day. We will be returning
and post new
photos of the
groves
as they mature.
Thanks to everyone we worked
with and good luck with the new Pandas.
