Bamboo In The Snow

Bob Foley of Morristown is known as “Bamboo Bob.” Visit his home — or his homepage, www.idigbamboo.com, and you’ll know instantly the reason.

Bob’s yard is walled with bamboo. More than 40 varieties enclose him on every side, some reaching as high as 60 feet. The bamboo’s evergreen leaves, coated with Friday’s snow, looked strangely beautiful and incongruous.

Most bamboo species are originally from East Asia. But there is no real reason not to grow bamboo in our New Jersey. And there are many good reasons to do it. First, bamboo is deer resistant. They just don’t like it. And here, that’s a good thing. The giant panda, which lives on bamboo shoots, won’t be in your backyard anytime soon.

Bamboo likes shade. It grows very quickly and thickly, getting to its full height in less than three months. So you’ll get privacy from your annoying neighbors in a short time. It also looks very cool.

Bob is one of the state’s premiere bamboo retailers. He’s helped homeowners from the Shore to the inland ‘burbs frame their yards and pools with walls of bamboo.

This is not just a green solution, it’s a greener solution, because bamboo generates more oxygen then an equal-sized grove of trees, Bob says. Besides, there are many uses for the stalks, from medicine to clothing, to home construction.

You may not think of landscaping with bamboo, but remember, much of the world wouldn’t think of living without it. It might be time for us to join the crowd, or at least, plant another evergreen to frame the garden in the snow.

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