Instant Gratification


The scene is a quiet neighborhood in New Jersey. Most of the houses in the area are colonial in style, all except this house ... Every time our unhappy homeowner looked out his back windows, this is what he saw ... As the leaves began to fall, his heart sank lower and lower until, in desperation he called us. The obnoxious monstrosity of a house wasn't the only problem; his backyard was nearly full shade in the summer and to complicate matters further, natural springs made the entire area a seemingly unusable quagmire. Bamboo Bob took one look and said, "No problem, leave everything to us."

Here you see the problem, poor drainage that would kill anything that one might be inclined to plant in an area that is in heavy shade.

Installation began and was completed on November 4, 2003. It was a rainy day with temperatures in the low 50's. First, the drainage issue was addressed with three yards of 3/4" crushed stone. Bamboo does not like to sit in water and grows close to the surface. The gravel drains the water away and the six yards of premium topsoil provides an excellent medium for the prolific growth of rhizomes (roots) in the spring. The homeowner was sick of looking at the "car dealership" and wanted some privacy in a hurry. Twenty pieces of phyllostacys aureasulcata (Yellow Groove) were brought in at heights ranging from 22-26 feet. This is twenty feet above the local fence ordinance. Just imagine what it would cost to plant say, hemlocks at that height, hemlocks that would most assuredly die in this wet environment. The end result is an instant privacy hedge that stays green year-round. Deer eat just about everything in this area but won't touch the bamboo.
Keepin' the Peace, One Backyard at a Time.


	Copyright © 2004 Touch The Earth, Inc.