Bamboo

Bamboo is a grass. I learned this last weekend moments before I decided to remove a row of it. Fortunately this means the root structure is remarkably shallow for the heights of the stalks. Unfortunately this means the roots sprawl around the earth in a shallow reach. Our running roots were generally straight lines and uprooted rather easily.

The bamboo stalk is far sturdier than I ever imagined and so completely hallowed out that it almost begs to be turned into a tool. I could not figure out quite what to do with it, but I sure wanted to make use of it.

I cannot fathom why anyone would intentionally plant bamboo. It spreads rapidly and does not match the natural fauna. Several roots I pulled crawled alongside existing roots in the yard, making me chilled at the image of plants attacked by invasive species. Some public areas around town have become overrun by bamboo. Someone must be planting it and failing to safeguard against its spread. Probably more people than I care to know.