All Things Bamboo

Is that bamboo?

I get this question a lot. Yes, it is. I bought Hillside Manor in August of 2021. It had over 100 bamboo trees at that time

The Golfside Heights neighborhood has a lot of friendly neighbors who have lived here for a long time, sometimes for several generations. This means I get tidbits of history on my home from various sources:

The original owners were gardeners and planted the three Japanese Maple trees in the front. At one point, the yard was filled with plants.
They also liked to sit looking out the kitchen window to watch everything that happened in the neighborhood. That was their perch - at the top of the hill - overlooking the neighborhood.
The crew I hired to blow the leaves this past fall told me they had been hired by the last owner to cut trees down, and to plant the hostas and the coleus around the yard. They also added the mulch. These same folks told me how terrible the outside cedar looked until this brand new coat of blue paint was applied in order to put the house on the market! (phew!)
A previous tenant stopped by one day looking for a Power Rangers fishing pole his son left at the house. I told them there was nothing like that on the property when I bought it. I learned from them that the air-conditioning units were new. These were the last tenants who moved out in the spring of 2021. There were no window units when they left.
My wonderful neighbor, Sue, who bakes the best bread I’ve ever had (oat bread) told me that she didn’t remember ever noticing that the bamboo trees leaned across the drive like they were that day when she visited. Whether it’s heavy snow or rain/ice, the bamboo lay down across the driveway, reminding me how unnatural they are to be growing here.

But no one so far has been able to answer the question of why the original owners planted 100+ bamboo trees. So far, the bamboo has offered a coolness factor. Most people, especially those who come from out of town, love the bamboo. So far, no one has complained when they’ve awoken to a bamboo-covered car. 🤭

I’ve taken to shaking the trees off when I shovel the snow to avoid the weeping trees falling on guests’ cars.

After this first winter season, I’ll be trimming the bamboo back, using scraps for igniting the early flames in the fire pit, and using the healthy pieces to create some of these fun projects in the yard: top-21-easy-and-attractive-diy-projects-using-bamboo

“Is that bamboo?” will just have to continue being the question in vogue at Hillside Manor.