I started the Fire Pit Project yesterday. But before I build the fire pit, I need to build a small patio out of flagstone. And before I build the patio, I need to move the small plants that surround that area. And before I move the small plants, I need to move the bamboo. Years ago I had planted it in a plastic tub that was buried in the ground, but it escaped. I had to kill it before it became too strong… kill it before it was too late.
I started by cutting all the stems, bundling them, and taking them to the dump. The dump guy thanked me for bundling them. Then he thanked me again. They’re so nice there now! After getting back home, I had to rest a little. When I had started digging the tub out of the ground, I encountered a lot of buried rocks. My right forearm was aching from the impact of all the chipping.
Resting made my arm feel better, so I went out to dig again. I could dig around the tub, but I couldn’t move it. The tub is a mass of bamboo roots now and is unliftable. I think I’ll need to cut the root mass into pieces. That will be today’s challenge…
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And, for the archive… I have to post a picture of the bamboo roots that were growing on the outside of the tub. It was only one little stem that got out of the tub. I started digging underneath it, and it was like fingers were digging into the soil… giant, fleshy, bony fingers plunging into the ground. It creeped me out. One of the roots broke. I poured gasoline on the piece still in the ground.
Good grief. I got to your third sentence and was exhausted.
That root is creep – in both ways. Melanie (a friend from work) has some kind of plant poison that she says takes just a drop and it’ll kill the whole plant. Is she just talking about gasoline?
Giant, fleshy, bony fingers….excellent!!!
Hey, is that another banana tree behind where the bamboo was? And would that mean that you have your garden arranged in aphabetical order?
http://splicd.com/did6MzVfWQA/78/285
I meant behind where the bamboo was.
Those are baby bananas that I killed because they were messy looking. That corner has sort of been my unofficial composting area. I’ll have to stop doing that now that the bamboo doesn’t hide it.
But it’s green…so that means it alive, right?
Green=alive
Brown=dead
Right?
Sometimes, green = dying.
Have I correctly deduced that YOU KILLED THAT “BEAUTIFUL STAND OF BAMBOO” FOR SOME SILLY PATIO?!?! (Sorry for shouting, but senseless killing brings that out in me some times.) Tell me you’re starting with a stem somewhere else again, no? .It really was lovely, and bamboo is such a great resource these days – I’ve seen all sorts of kitchenware, flooring and furniture made from it because it can replenish itself so quickly. What a shame (she types while shaking her head left to right and back again)!
(Now I know I’ll never see an invitation to sit on the patio and enjoy the fire pit, will I?)
Did you see the picture of the roots? It had escaped the tub! Escaped, I tell you! If I hadn’t killed it, it would have taken over the entire yard. And beyond!
Did you even stop to think about what you would feed your panda now?
Rabbits?
I snorted.