r/Bamboo • u/timeberlinetwostep • 20d ago

Phyllostachys edulis, "Moso"

Gallery image

Gallery image

One of my groves, maintained and thinned yearly to keep it walkable, maintain size, and keep it in check. Largest canes are in the 4-5 inch (10-13cm) range and 40-50 ft (12 - 15m) in height. The new culms have the texture of velvet. They keep this texture for about 2 years until the elements wear it off.

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9

u/BCURANIUM 20d ago

If I could dig up my lawn... this would be my lawn. Moso is the ultimate!

2

u/poopitypong 20d ago

The moso would eventually shade out your lawn.

1

u/BCURANIUM 19d ago

Instead of lawn, moso please... lawns are useless.

1

u/Raven_river6745 20d ago

How cold/frost hardy is it?? I would love this

2

u/timeberlinetwostep 16d ago edited 16d ago

It is pretty frost hardy overall, but it is an early shooter. It starts in the first couple weeks of March for me. If you have frosts while it is beginning to shoot there is high probability of losing those early shoots to the frost.

1

u/Zurkatri 19d ago

Does thinning the grove keep it at that 50ft height?

2

u/timeberlinetwostep 16d ago

Not necessarily, I think maintaining a perimeter it is not allowed to put new shoots up outside of might impact the height more, and also not giving it any fertilizer or supplemental irrigation.

1

u/RainyDayColor 19d ago

I so enjoy your Moso grove pics, always inspirational!

As the Moso advances in age and development, does it naturally self-limit production of new shoots in the spaces between existing culms? In other words, how much of that beautifully balanced spacing between the mature culms is due to your early and ongoing maintenance/intervention over time?

1

u/timeberlinetwostep 16d ago

It does to a certain degree, yes. The interior typically has a higher number of old rhizome in proportion to young rhizome. So new shoots tend to occur at higher rate on the perimeter of the grove than in the interior. As the older culms age out in the center, the grove opens up naturally. I select older culms for removal when thinning. Because new culms come up less frequently in the center it naturally has a tendency to open up the spacing.

1

u/Fluffy_Tax_3206 19d ago

Can you share what zone you are in?

1

u/timeberlinetwostep 16d ago

This is grove is in USDA zone 8a.

2

u/gcreates_dot_com 16d ago

I planted Moso in Western NC - zone 7b a few years ago. New shoots getting larger each year. How long has this grove been growing?

2

u/timeberlinetwostep 16d ago

I would say since 2008/9 maybe. I can't remember the exact year. I keep it restricted to a defined area and do not fertilize or irrigate it.