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Composting Bamboo

Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
in Tools and techniques
A quick q I hope.  :)

Are there any special things to do when composting bamboo - is it just shred or fold and drop in the compost bin?

I am seriously trimming back my "block next door's upstairs window" bamboo clump for the first time after 6 years and may have 30 or 40 cans of 1-3m in length.

Thanks

Ferdinand
“Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,064
    Canes won’t compost, can’t you use them for tomato plants or cut in half for garden supports. Maybe advertise them. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited September 2020
    Lyn said:
    Canes won’t compost, can’t you use them for tomato plants or cut in half for garden supports. Maybe advertise them. 
    Thanks.

    A lot are still green from around the edge - how do I turn them into "canes". Is it just air dry in a rack in the garage, for example?

    I could put them in the same place as all my unused long bits of wood that are still there after many years :smile: , or in the overhead rack with the pipes and guttering.
     


    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    I dry any canes over 1cm diameter for use in the garden but the rest are shredded and composted as normal.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,064
    Yes you can compost thin green bits, I assumed when you said they were covering upstairs window that they were on Eden Project size😀
    Big ones as you say, dry in the garage. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    Lyn said:
    Yes you can compost thin green bits, I assumed when you said they were covering upstairs window that they were on Eden Project size😀
    Big ones as you say, dry in the garage. 
    It is a mixture. The clumb is probably 4m high now, hvaing been planted in about 2014. But it is threatening to escape from the old asparagus bed, so needs a bit of border patrol.

    I'll take a piccie after brunch.
    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • ManderMander Posts: 344
    I keep many of the long, straight stems off the various shrubs for plant supports but definitely make sure they dry out first. I've got a monster of a forsythia that I accidentally grew by using a stick that wasn't totally dead yet to hold up something else! 
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 8,728
    Check for any local gardening clubs.  When I removed my bamboo I had dozens of canes above 3 metres tall and they were delighted to take the lot.
  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited September 2020
    These are an example of the short and long end of the canes that I will be trimming.

    As you can see they are roughly 20 and 40 brick courses, which is approx 1.5m and 3m+ at 3 inches approx per course.There may be a few longer or more substantial.

    Will dry some of the big ones and see what they are like.

    F

    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,064
    I don’t think those  are suitable for canes, mine had been in the ground for longer than that and the canes went brown on the plant, I’m not so sure yours will.
    they look a bit thin.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 11,972
    I didn't think they would compost down as they are too fibrous but happy to be corrected.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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