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About Us
     ● The Business
     ● Dain Sansome, Owner
     ● Our Bamboo Overview
     ● Contact Us
About Bamboo
     ● General Information
     ● Definitions
     ● Running bamboos
     ● Timber bamboo
     ● Privacy Screens
     ● Clumping bamboos
Running Bamboos
     ● Phyllostachys atrovaginata
              (Incense Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys aurea
              (Fish Pole or Golden Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys aureosulcata
              ‘Spectabilis’
     ● Phyllostachys bambusoides
              (Japanese Timber Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys bambusoides
              ‘Castillon’
     ● Phyllostachys dulcis
               (Sweetshoot Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys edulis
               (Moso)
     ● Phyllostachys heteroclada
               (Water Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys nigra
               (Black Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys nigra ‘Bory’
               (Tiger Bamboo)
     ● Phyllostachys nigra ‘Henon’
     ● Phyllostachys vivax
              (Chinese Timber Bamboo)
     ● Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda
              (Chinese Walking Stick Bamboo)
Clumping Bamboos
     ● Fargesia robusta
Services and Projects
     ● Design and consultation
     ● Installations
     ● Bamboo control service
     ● Removals
     ● Stump grinding
Purchasing|
     ● Payment
     ● Deliveries
     ● Warranty
Bamboo FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
     ● Landscaping with bamboo
     ● Selecting your bamboos
     ● Planting, care, and control of
              your bamboos

Links

Driving directions to Bamboo Valley
              in Albany, Oregon

General Information about Bamboo

Bamboos are a group of woody perennial grasses, not trees. Bamboos have segmented stalks, are usually evergreen and can grow very tall. Bamboos are native on all continents except Antarctica and Europe. They grow in tropical through temperate zones. The temperate bamboos thrive best where the lowest temperatures seldom go below 15°F and the rainfall exceeds 30 inches with most of the rain falling during the spring and summer months. Bamboos grow from sea level to elevations around 11,000 feet (Chusquea sp. near Quito, Ecuador).

There are a number of look-alike plants you may be familiar with, such as Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum, etc.), Lucky Bamboo (Dracena sanderiana), and Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica). None of these are grasses; none, consequently, are bamboos; they should not be confused with bamboos.

Temperate-climate bamboos grow throughout the year, but most strikingly in the spring when they put up their new season's growth. The shoots that emerge do so at their full diameter and rapidly grow to full height and leaf-out, which takes approximately 60-90 days. Culms of some varieties can grow over 60 feet tall feet tall and over 4 inches in diameter here in Oregon. Roots and rhizomes grow throughout the year but remain unnoticed, unless they break out of the ground. An individual culm may live for over 10 years.

Bamboos are used for construction and everyday sundries including baskets, tool handles, and toys. Bamboo's unique height and foliage characteristics make them effective visual screens. Bamboo screens and hedges also cut wind and attenuate sound. In the United States screens are live bamboo's most popular use. A single row of bamboo takes up very little space. Bamboo roots and rhizomes live short lives and break down quickly. In this way bamboo, like other field grasses, protects and enriches the soil, increases soil friability and cohesion, and helps water percolate. Above all, bamboo is natural and the movement of air through the leaves creates a unique, mesmerizing sound.

Some things made of bamboo:
A bamboo stairway.	Bamboo roof, trusses, and beams.
Bamboo bar and bar stools.	A bamboo xylophone.

A large rhizome of Madake.

Phyllostachys vivax in Portland.

Dain Climbing Dendrocalamus strictus

Bamboo used for electricity poles, fences and houses, Guayaquil, Ecuador.

General Information about Bamboo

Some things made of bamboo: