Bamboo is one thing I do not have in my garden… and I don’t really want it either since it can be highly invasive if you don’t put it in correctly.

However, if it is taking over someone else’s garden… I’m all for that!

My friend’s garden has a bamboo problem and I offered to take some of it off her hands to use as stake poles in my garden. Total score! I’m going to cut down several to use as garden trellises this year but I think I read that you should really let them dry out for awhile before using them so I am going to cut down additional ones to store and dry for upcoming gardening years. I think my friend’s grove really needs some thinning and you can cut up to 1/3 of the grove every year without hurting the plant.

Here is what her bamboo grove looks like:

I was able to cut down about 10 poles the other day which were about 18 feet tall and the larger bases were about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I cut each pole into two pieces so I could fit them in my car. Finding poles of this size is pretty impossible at any store so I feel really lucky to have a source. Plus cutting down the bamboo was really a lot easier than I thought it was going to be!

Did you know you can eat the young shoots of bamboo? For several summers I went bamboo hunting with my aunt in Japan. You look for the very very young shoots and with a little push they should break off pretty easily. Delicious!