Bamboo Business Booming...In Ohio!

Bamboo Business Booming...In Ohio! CROPS New Crops 31-6-28 Jerry Burton is a bamboo expert who ships his product all over the country. What's surprising is that he's growing the tropical product in an unlikely place - Ohio. In addition to zoos and conservatories, Burton's found a good market in selling bamboo for privacy fences. The amazing growth rate - it can reach full height in one to two months - gives results fast. "The cold hardy varieties I grow can range in height from 15 to 35 ft.," says Burton. He says there are more than 1,500 types of bamboo grown throughout the world, with one or two native to the U.S. Some varieties grow as tall as 100 ft. Unlike other exotic species, there's little danger bamboo will invade broad areas. The long-lived grass only produces seed every 60 to 100 years. It's propagated by cuttings. Burton's Bamboo Garden is located in southwestern Ohio. He says that even there about half the winters are harsh enough to damage his most hearty bamboo. If only the leaves are killed, new leaves will push off the old in the spring. If the bud is killed, the cane (trunk) will die also. When that happens, it then takes two years or more for the rhizome mass below ground to produce canes to the original or higher height. Burton offers more than 60 types of bamboo. Grown in pots, all varieties are priced at $55 for a no. 5 pot and $35 for a no. 2 pot when picked up at his gardens. He offers personal tours of his display gardens by appointment only. However, his website is a mother lode of information on bamboo with photos and information on more than 20 types he has for sale. He notes that when he started growing bamboo in the 1980's, there were only about 17 sources for bamboo in the U.S. Today the American Bamboo Society has 18 single-spaced pages of sources for bamboo and related information. Burton cautions against simply planting bamboo in a yard. He recommends burying a barrier 22 in. deep or more around the plant or alongside a planting. "If you don't contain bamboo with an in-ground barrier, it will spread and take over, because it spreads underground by rhizomes," says Burton. He also cautions against planting it with the idea of harvesting it for furniture or flooring in most of the U.S. He notes that bamboo grown north of the Mason-Dixon line isn't likely to develop cane walls thick enough. However, many types of bamboo can be harvested sooner for flutes, curtain rods, picture frames and other uses. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jerry Burton, 7352 Gheils Carroll Rd., Morrow, Ohio 45152 (ph 513 899-3446 or toll free 877 899-3446; jerry@burtonsbamboogarden.com; www.burtonsbamboogarden.com).

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