Friday, May 7, 2010

OM [one moment] meet up - week #5 - Battling bamboo in the garden

I hope you had a great week. Mine was on the long and exhausting side but I'm hanging in there. C just returned from an 8 day class and nat'l conference and will now be on chief call for 10 days straight (meaning he will get calls and can be called in to the hospital 24/7 for the next 10 days). If you see my mood change in the next week, don't be surprised!


My one moment this week actually came to me last Sunday as I was toiling in my garden. We have a 12' x 4' bamboo patch that screens a blue stone patio from our neighbors for privacy. When we put in the bamboo, we were told it was a "clumping" variety and could be easily controlled. Hmmmm...."easily controlled" is a relative term which now means pulling pavers up and cutting new growth every spring (a.k.a. lots of work).  The bamboo sprouts up all over the yard, under the pavers, into the house. I can only imagine what the overall root system looks like under the surface.

We were naive.  Someone once told us that only an enemy would suggest planting bamboo. We should have planted it in large pots like a good friend of mine did in Seattle.  It looks great in large pots and serves it's purpose well.

I love bamboo!  I love it's sustainable, fast growing quality.  I love it's overall appearance.  It gave us instant privacy.  Who knew there was so much bad that comes with the good.

My bamboo seems to be a bit of a metaphor in life - anything worth having comes with [lots] of maintenance.

What was your 'one moment' this week? Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. If you are on Twitter, I've started a hash tag - #ommeetup. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

To learn more about this weekly post, OM [one moment] meetup, please see the original post here.

8 comments:

  1. Ugh! I'm so glad you find something heartening to take away from that bamboo!

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  2. LOL, Candy! That's why this OM meetup is so great. It makes me look for the good!

    Unfortunatly for the next owner of this home, they'll have this to contend with. I am not giving up on my bamboo obsession and will be planting my bamboo in large modern pots at my next home (maybe in CA)!

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  3. I love bamboo too and have been considering planting it in our yard. You just did me a great service with this post! One more wonderful thing to chalk up for this OM meetup.

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  4. Cyn, I'll ask my friend to send me pics of her bamboo in pots. I loved it. She has a row of 5 or so that gives her privacy w/o the spreading!

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  5. For sure, to plant it in pots would be better; much easier to deal with it. Maybe next time if you intend to move somewhere else.

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  6. Yes to the planting it in pots! Bamboo is actually considered invasive in many locations in the USA - that's how bad it is in the ground! Good luck with controlling it, Linda - I'll share any good tips if they come my way :-)

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  7. when i was a little girl i remember my neighbour asking me... do you know why it's called "bamboo?" i said, "no, why?" "because it grows BAM! BOO!"

    many years later plus along with this post, i get the joke.

    my favourite line: "My bamboo seems to be a bit of a metaphor in life - anything worth having comes with of maintenance."

    thanks for sharing :) bon weekend!

    xo,
    tee.

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  8. I had many moments this week but this one in particular made my heart nearly stop. Life is so fragile... Our niece, who's not quite 9, is in the hospital again after having a colostomy in Jan. They removed the bag & reattached her small intestine to her rectum. Everything was going great and all of a sudden she's now in horrible pain :( We're all so worried and her folks are trying to be strong. The hubs & I are providing a "home away from home" with home cooked meals, hot showers, and a warm comfy bed when they can catch some sleep. Wish we could do more, so I'm asking u all to send some positive healing energy to Kylee in Cleveland Clinic please. Love & Good Health to all Bloggers and thanks for listening!

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