So today the task was to bundle up the long bamboo poles so that we can put them out for yard waste pickup which happens once a week. We chopped off the root bundles along with the brambles and poison ivy that were mixed in with the bamboo and put those into large construction grade garbage bags. We filled about 5 large bags and made around 5 or 6 large bundles of long bamboo poles. The pile did not seem much diminished by our efforts.
Then Brni had the brilliant idea to dump as much of the bamboo, roots and poison ivy into the old cesspool pit. When we moved here nine years ago, I found the old cesspool in the back yard had not been filled in as it was supposed to be, so basically we had a huge pit but no pendulum. For safety, I got a very large, thick piece of blue slate and put it over the hole, then placed a birdbath on it to keep people and critters from falling through to an untimely death.
Here’s a picture of the pit:
And here we see Brni bending bamboo and stuffing it into the pit.
The pit is full.
Bags of roots ready to go out with the trash.
The pit is covered, marked only by the birdbath … no one will ever know.
It’ll take a few weeks to dispose of the remaining bags and bundles, but the grunt work is done!
Yay us!
18 responses to “the great bamboo battle, part II”
yay us. boo poison ivy.
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Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m going to laugh if you get a bamboo screened circle around the birdbath. 😉
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This.
I was raised around kudzu–which must be killed with fire if you really want it gone; cutting only lasts between a day and a week–so I tend to assume that root bundles are new plants waiting to happen unless they’re in an active burn pile.
And you’ve got ’em in a nice dark hole that used to be full of compost?
Dunno. Maybe bamboo takes the hint better than kudzu. Good luck, yeah?
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well, the root bundles are going in plastic and in the trash pickup. the stuff was all mixed in with poison ivy. you do not ever want to burn that stuff. the smoke carries the toxic oils into the air and if you breath that in, you could very well die.
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ye gods, true. I’ve heard horrifying stories about “I’ll just burn this patch of ivy…”
(~quiet grin at the thought of bamboo roots reaching through bags and overtaking the landfill~)
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(~quiet grin at the thought of bamboo roots reaching through bags and overtaking the landfill~)
I’ll share that thought/grin if you don’t object. 🙂
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That’s the lovely thing about bamboo, isn’t it? There’s always plenty to share… 😀
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Part of me wishes I could find a variety that will grow in Midwestern climates but I haven’t found anything that really looks promising.
Interestingly I run across other people who are considering the idea as well: An older post but in the right part of the country.
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nonononono!
there is nothing lovely about bamboo. it eats up all the space, leaving no room for respectable plants and nobody in this part of the world eats it. yeah, yeah, so sometimes it might look kinda pretty…especially that variety with the black canes, but really….beauty is just an illusion when it comes to this most evil grass.
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I watched some “city folk” that moved in near my grandmother in Wisconsin burn a pile of weeds.
When we warned them that they were burning a bunch of plants that might contain poison ivy and poison oak the response was a resounding “So what?”.
The next week we saw them with a ton of red blotches all over themselves wherever the smoke had touched.
To the credit of the one kid he said “We should have listened to you.” but the rest of the family just gave us evil glares.
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yup. we’re not “country” around here —solidly suburban and with that, unfortunately, we have to suffer the idiocy of those who’s idea of gardening is calling Lawn Doctor or squirting RoundUp in the sidewalk cracks. will be nice when we can move farther away from the crowd.
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I keep watching signs go by on the road out here (Montana) while we’re on vacation and they all say 10 – 20 acres minimum and they are _all_ on hilly wooded areas.
I so want at least a 10 acre complex on top of a mesa somewhere. Between the sky and the lack of people _right_ next to you I can easily come to love this place.
But then I’d have to find some way to pay for it…
On a side note a native Montana resident told us that both North and South Dakota are virtually empty now due to people moving where the jobs are. 😦
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i so want to see montana and the dakotas. i adore NM, and would be thrilled beyond belief to live there again….but….i could consider “big sky” country as long as i was away from just about everybody.
heh.
but then…i guess you still need some source for money. even in the middle of nowhere.
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so… what exactly does a dental floss bush look like?
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*chuckle* Would you believe I’ve never actually heard that song? Time for a trip to see if Youtube has it or something.
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Poison Ivy preventative
EVERYBODY scrub down with baking soda and water EVERYwhere!!!! I’m serious. Wet your skin, scrub with baking soda like it was bonami, and RINSE IT ALL AWAY. It could prevent QUITE a seige. LadyB
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Re: Poison Ivy preventative
hmmm….might be a bit late on that one. we did strip down, rinsed off in the shower with cold water and then washed with soap and cold water.
it’s worked for me before, but then i’m not terrilby allergic. hopefully, it will be enough for brni…he’s the one who’s highly sensitive.
sigh
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Re: Poison Ivy preventative
heh… i read that as “Poison Ivy Representative.” i wonder if poison ivy has a lobby group…
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