Today I finally was able to carve out a little time to visit garden blogger, Alan Lorence. He specializes in bamboo, though has so much more! I used to have bamboo at my old house, though I have not planted any new bamboo at my new home. I picked out a few new varieties from Alan's garden and brought them home. Now bamboo gardening is not for the passive gardener. It requires hard work and management or else the bamboo can become a problem for you and your neighbors. You should first start by building some sort of barrier around the bamboo….and it should go down 18". I used roof flashing in the past. Alan has lots of energy and mostly practices root pruning to keep his bamboo in check.
The pictures below are not of bamboo, though of some of Alan's plants that are currently in bloom. I have never seen so many birds and bees frolicking around a yard. It is a happy place. Check out Alan's blog HERE.