Mulching the bamboos

Yesterday after I mulched the horizontal potted bamboos, I mulched several of my in-ground bamboos too. I've been mulching all of them with layers of compost throughout the year, but some of the newly-planted ones haven't had any real mulching yet, or needed a bit more.

Besides providing more protection for the roots and rhizomes, the shredded hardwood mulch really makes the bamboo look great I think.

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Another shot of the mulched-over pots from yesterday:

The leaves on this plant (Fargesia denudata) have already been cold/wind damaged:

This Fargesia murielae looks pretty good still though:

They were both planted just a month or two ago, so both got tarped over after these photos were taken -- maybe too late for the denudata. Both are supposed to be quite cold-hardy -- maybe greater cold-tolerance will come when the plants are a little more established.

I love the different colored culms of this Phyllostachys rubromarginata. The light tan culms are dead, the green ones are normal, the yellow one may be from sun exposure, and the brown one could be cold damage. It's a nice combination for now -- there should be a lot more green once the plant shoots in the spring.

If this one (Pseudosasa viridula) behaves as it did last year I expect all of the leaves and most of the culms to die this winter:

It gets mulched anyway, as it may surprise me this year and I want to give the plant its best chance.

I just love the way the bamboo looks with the fresh, dark mulch underneath it. No weeds, no bare soil... it just looks nice and healthy.

I didn't add more mulch to my more established plantings yet, as they have a decent layer of compost on them already, and since they've successfully made it through a couple of winters already with little damage to the leaves or culms, I'm certainly not concerned about the rhizomes being killed or damaged from the cold.

Plus mulching every plant in the garden would be pretty expensive. I'll wait until after the holidays, when the community mulch pile will be full of chipped Christmas trees. It's a good source of free mid-winter mulch, as long as you don't mind some tinsel mixed in with the organic matter.