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I have a bunch of B. Oldhamii that died back from a hard freeze. All of the leaves dropped, but the culms are still green. I'd like to cut the culms unless they're going to contribute energy to new growth this Spring. Does anybody know if the bare culms are still alive? Should I leave them or cut them?

jbd wrote:I have a bunch of B. Oldhamii that died back from a hard freeze. All of the leaves dropped, but the culms are still green. I'd like to cut the culms unless they're going to contribute energy to new growth this Spring. Does anybody know if the bare culms are still alive? Should I leave them or cut them?

People say that they can help with new shoots, I can't speak to the truth of that but what I did learn was that leaving them can help protect the new shoots from wind, animals etc so I generally left at least a few of them.

needmore wrote:

jbd wrote:I have a bunch of B. Oldhamii that died back from a hard freeze. All of the leaves dropped, but the culms are still green. I'd like to cut the culms unless they're going to contribute energy to new growth this Spring. Does anybody know if the bare culms are still alive? Should I leave them or cut them?

People say that they can help with new shoots, I can't speak to the truth of that but what I did learn was that leaving them can help protect the new shoots from wind, animals etc so I generally left at least a few of them.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I guess I'll leave the largest diameter culms. Maybe I'll do an experiment to get to the bottom of this.

I always leave old damaged shoots and cut them back when the shoots reach maximal height. Sometimes they can re-leaf and have a chance to stay for another season, if they look bad, I just remove them before the new shoots start branching out.

leave them alone! they will often leaf out. the tops of the culms might be killed- but they will fall off on their own. I have a similar situation here at present. lows of 21 degrees for two consecutive nights. 40 foot tall culms still green, though all leaves were lost. they've been through worse. groves that receive morning sun do best.

oldhamii started leafing out about 28 feet up yesterday. I was amazed as this is way too early. the top 8 feet of a 40 foot culm appears to be browning - and will probably fall off eventually. bambusa textilis kanapaha began vigorously releafing all over last week. apparently completely undamaged by recent hard freeze. normally I'd expect this development much later in spring.