Cutting Down Those Bamboos

Remember the bamboos that I used to make a trellis? Some of us know that bamboos are extremely invasive and fast growers. I wonder if the people who planted them knew these facts about bamboos. They have grown into my surrounding neighbors' yards. They have grown so much that I started to see big spiders and their webs on them.  After doing some research, I believe these big spiders are Orb-weaving spiders, which are non-aggressive to humans and not toxic; however, they are big and scary and walking into their big webs would be terrifying. After doing more research on  how to get rid of them, I decided to go the natural route - cutting down and thinning out the bamboos. Once their preferred habitats are removed, they will move on.

I spent the weekend sawing off the bamboos from as close to the ground as possible. I kept some of them fence height, and also cut off some super tall ones. I will be keeping some straight thick ones for more trellis.  After hours of chopping, cutting, and trimming, I noticed some stinging and itchy sensations on my arms. I couldn't help not to scratch them.  I was wearing garden gloves but only wearing a t-shirt and overall shorts. My ankles also experience a little itchiness. After scratching my arms a few times, I noticed little red blistery bumps all over my forearms. Upon doing more research online, I found that others have experienced the same symptoms after dealing with bamboos while some people have never experienced any problem. It's believed to be some kind of allergic reaction, which I am not surprised. My skin tends to get allergic reaction from brushing against certain plants. This is another reason to get rid of these bamboos. The dogs were running around the bamboos and stepping on the leaves. I tried to shoo them away since I don't want their little paws to get some bad reactions from the bamboos, but they don't seem to be bothered at all.

Building a Bamboo Trellis

We have a  little bamboo patch in the backyard. It's a good and possibly bad thing. If they start taking over the entire yard, then it's a bad thing. If they stay in their own area, I can use them for various purposes. I knew that I wanted to use them to make trellis for growing anything that climbs.  A couple months ago I planted my kiwi vines out in the garden. They have really flourished. This week is spring break, and I knew that I had to take this opportunity to cut down some bamboo and make a trellis for the kiwi vines.

I have the perfect tool for sawing off the bamboo. About four years ago, I bought a Pocket Boy. It's a cute little saw that can easily hurt someone seriously.  It only took seconds to saw off a bamboo stick. I saw off about 20 of them.  One thing to watch out for is getting splinters from the bamboo. They are so fibrous and sharp. I put on some gloves after getting many tiny splinters.  I saw off the top part with the leaves before pounding the bigger ones into the soil. I used some ribbon from old gift wraps to tie the horizontal sticks. They aren't all straight and even, but that's okay. I think they will be functional. Once the kiwi vines wrap around the trellis, you won't be able to see much of the trellis itself anyway.  I will show you how it all looks in a few months.

Help Wanted

There comes a time when one must seek for help, and that time has come for me. For the last 6 months, I have been nursing some passion fruit cuttings. It took months for them to root, and now I have 3 glossy green passion fruit plants in green house #2. Before I plant them outside, I need to rebuild the beat up trellis.

Instead of rebuilding it with wood, I would like to use bamboo. I want a more Asian appeal and environmental friendly material. The trickiest part of the project is the big crack on the cement base. You can't really see the crack from the pictures but the crack causes the structure to be slanted which you can see in the next 2 pictures.

My friend Joseph, who just started his own gardening business, came by today to check out the trellis. The project is a little bigger than he anticipated. He said this structure is an arbor not a trellis. Okay. I really wasn't sure what the appropriate name is. Joseph will take on another project instead of Bamboo Trellis project.

On Sunday, Neal, who I met at Permaculture Solstice Convergence, is coming to take a look. I expect more inquiries from Merritt College students once the classes start again next week.