Compared to a deciduous tree that drops its leaves every Fall, my experience is that bamboo is a 'cleaner' plant'. Why? Bamboo tends to drop culm sheaths (a large one from a Bambusa oldhamii 'Giant Clumping Timber Bamboo' is pictured above side-by-side with my hand), some leaves from the plant (they shed and renew leaves throughout the year) and some dead branchlets that fall off cleanly at the nodes.
Based on my observation in my yard (looking at the row of non-deciduous Photinia bushes we have along the fence) and seeing other similar plants used for privacy, bamboo is equally, if not less messy than the average bush or tree used for privacy.
Bamboo leaf litter drops close to the base of the bamboo plant (most bamboos are pretty column-like in growth, compared to an average tree that tends to grow in a triangular form). Also, tree leaves are lighter, generally speaking, and are easily carried in the wind to areas of the yard where they are not wanted.
One item to note on leaf litter from bamboo, is that it is actually good to leave bamboo leaf litter at the base of the bamboo plant because that leaf litter contains a small amount of Silica which is important for the growth of the bamboo. In a sense, the bamboo plant is re-feeding itself an important element to its long-term growth - Silica.
Is bamboo mess-free? No. But, in my observation over the years it is equally, if not less messy, than many of the common trees and bushes used for privacy, plus its a much more interesting plant. Not that I'm biased...
Cheers!
Sean
Mad Man Bamboo
(916) 300-6335
Mad Man Bamboo on Twitter - @madmanbamboo
3 comments:
Are there any species that seem to drop their leaves less than others?
Thanks
Mark
Maybe it's a clean plant for you, but that's the same selfish attitude my neighbors have who planted a line of bamboo along our back fence. Bamboo drop copious amounts of leaves all year long, and most of it falls into my yard and that of my next door neighbor and covers our plants, flowers and ground cover with their ugly dry brown leaves. It is a constant struggle to rake up the leaves and to manually pick the leaves out of our bushes and flowers. The bamboo also grows under the fence and pops up in our garden. We will be contacting a lawyer about this ongoing problem. Think carefully before considering bamboo.
I totally agree with Mark. I too have neighbors who have bamboo along our wall which separates the property and it all falls in our yard all year round. I don't think any of the leaves even fall in their yard . My yard looks a mess and it's hard to keep up with cleaning it.
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