A little bamboo cleanup

There is much bamboo to clean up this spring. Most of it I'm not ready to cut down as I still have some hope that it is alive and will leaf out again, but there are still bamboo leaves that need to go.

This patch of Pleioblastus viridistriatus for instance. It gets mowed down every year regardless of how severe or mild the previous winter was, as the fresh foliage is amazing and vibrant. Any remnant leaves -- even if they were not dead -- would look terrible in comparison.

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The bald cypress anchors this part of the yard, although it's late to leaf out every year:

I can't help but interrupt my task to admire it, even leafless.

My method of "mowing" is not actually mowing -- it's pruning with my hedge clippers (which I always call "shears", whether it's correct or not), which involves me crawling through the bamboo as I cut it down.

The fencing that protected this tree when younger and just the perfect size for deer antlers to be rubbed on is no longer needed, and is getting in the way of my cleanup -- so out it comes!

One advantage to crawling around any planting bed: you discover interesting things, like this nest:

I assume it was a field mouse nest, but I don't really know. Looked soft and comfortable though!

Even with decent shears this is a bit of a workout, but that's just what I need to get me ready for spring...

There is still much too much brown in the garden!

I don't try to get every single culm or leaf, as they'll soon be buried beneath new growth:

Besides, who's got the time for perfection?

Very soon the new shoots will start peeking out, and before long the dead bamboo will be just a memory and a collection of blog posts.

The calendar says spring has arrived (or nearly so) -- when will the temperatures?

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