Learn how to groom and contain invasive bamboo at the Town Lake Grove Seminar and Workshop.

Shooting season for “Golden Bamboo”--the invasive giant grass which has plagued many Central Texas homeowners--is nearly upon us.  Beginning in March and continuing through April, Phyllostachys aurea--the local “bad boy” of bamboos, notorious for its rhizomes that can spread up to 30 feet in one growing season, will begin “shooting season.”  Not wabbits, but dozens of similarly pesky bamboo culms!

Bamboo Logic and Casa de Luz will be holding a Bamboo Seminar and Grove Grooming Workday in the Town Lake Bamboo Grove which the two organizations have co-adopted and co-manage.  The seminar and workshop will take place on Saturday, February 23rd, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the Town Lake Bamboo Grove, on the east side of Barton Creek, near the bridge.  There is ample parking along Toomey Road.  

In addition to learning how to thin and prune a grove for optimal health, participants will learn how to contain running bamboo by installing a rhizome barrier to prevent its spread, enabling homeowners who appreciate the esthetic and practical screening bamboo provides to control its spread.  Participants will also be introduced to the non-invasive “clumping” species of bamboo, many of which thrive in Central Texas, and the workshop will involve building a bamboo fence.  The first 25 participants to register will receive a free t-shirt or cookbook.  Handouts, snacks, and water provided.   This event is free and open to the public.

For more information and details contact Casa de Luz Bamboo Curator Jinji Willigham at bamboologic@mac.com, 350-8505 or visit www.bamboo-logic.com.  For directions to Toomey Road visit www.casadeluz.org.