Freezing rain and bamboo
February 4, 2018 11:53 AM Subscribe
We have bamboo that is bending under the weight of freezing rain. Should I be worried? Will hosing it down help melt the ice off (it is about 35 degrees Fahrenheit) or just make it worse? What can I do to make sure it survives?
Response by poster: Live bamboo. I just went out and found I could shake a good bit of the ice off, for what it’s worth.
posted by molla at 12:15 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by molla at 12:15 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
You have nothing to worry about. Bamboo is *impossible* to kill. Like, seriously, you have to burn it with fire to make it go away. You're good...
posted by mccxxiii at 12:26 PM on February 4, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by mccxxiii at 12:26 PM on February 4, 2018 [13 favorites]
I think it depends on the species (which I realize you probably don't know) and where you are - some tropical species can be killed by freezing temperatures, but other species can survive up to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
In practice, bamboo is related to grass, which means it has a sort of distributed root system that makes it well-nigh unkillable, with some "running" species spreading very very quickly. If you Google "killing bamboo", you'll encounter a ton of people who have come to regret having bamboo plants as borders or in gardens, as they can't stop it spreading, and the only way to get rid of it for real is to dig up and remove all the dirt for several feet around and under where the bamboo was.
IOW, if you're anywhere where freezing rain and temps happen at least a couple of times a year, then your bamboo has lived through worse already, the roots won't die even if the stalks break, and it'll show up again in the spring, if not sooner.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:36 PM on February 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
In practice, bamboo is related to grass, which means it has a sort of distributed root system that makes it well-nigh unkillable, with some "running" species spreading very very quickly. If you Google "killing bamboo", you'll encounter a ton of people who have come to regret having bamboo plants as borders or in gardens, as they can't stop it spreading, and the only way to get rid of it for real is to dig up and remove all the dirt for several feet around and under where the bamboo was.
IOW, if you're anywhere where freezing rain and temps happen at least a couple of times a year, then your bamboo has lived through worse already, the roots won't die even if the stalks break, and it'll show up again in the spring, if not sooner.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:36 PM on February 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
In many parts of the world massive bamboo is weighed down under metres of snow every winter. It just springs back up again in summer, I wouldn't be too concerned.
posted by smoke at 12:36 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by smoke at 12:36 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
It’s fun to go out with an umbrella and shake the bamboo and have the ice rain down on you. We have timber bamboo and it’s been iced over a few times. I usually go shake it but it’s always bounced back so far.
posted by amanda at 2:25 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by amanda at 2:25 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Some misguided people in my area plant bamboo as an ornamental. Our winters are a bit more severe than yours, by the sound of it (we routinely see teens and single digits Fahrenheit). Nothing kills bamboo. Not cold, not ice, not snow. I'm not sure fire kills it. Bamboo is a dreaded plant here, second only to kudzu and followed by mimosas.
posted by workerant at 8:03 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by workerant at 8:03 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
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FWIW our rivercane (native bamboo to the southeastern US) got its ass handed to it by our freak Snowmageddon in NC and bounced back just fine, I don't even think it broke. While it was covered in sticky snow, some stalks even laid nearly flat.
posted by Drosera at 12:12 PM on February 4, 2018 [2 favorites]