So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodnight

It was a long, hot, busy weekend in Seattle.  And yesterday was a long and not-so-hot day for me.  But it's over.  

Speaking of "over" the bamboo removal crew was out last week and started on this one. It's been growing next to (and into) the garage for 30+ years.

My parents might remember the bamboo they planted alongside their house in Bremerton in 1980. This is actually a piece of their original.  I told Bruce (my bamboo expert) that I was thrilled at the time to get a "free" plant for our new house.  That got a good laugh.  "Ha, ha, ha!"  Probably all the way to the bank with his big check.

OK, it goes like this. The first step is sawing into the ground all around the base of the plant. Then through the base to divide it up into chunks.  Bamboo has surprisingly shallow roots (it's grass) but they're as dense as cement.

After that, the poor thing is wrenched out of the ground out without ceremony, using a steel lever and lots of muscle. None of this is as easy as it looks.  Bamboo is a wily organism with incredible survival skills, so it requires finesse as well as brute strength.

The "mother" plant is gone, but the rhizomes are not.  You can see the mess of roots that have been growing inside the shed wall for years and years.

The bamboo girls went to work digging as many roots as they could from the hole and pulling them out of the walls. 

Getting all the rhizomes would require digging up the entire yard, since they've spread many feet out in all directions.  With the main plant gone, all these rhizomes will sprout and become new plants.  But if I keep them cut back, they lack nourishment and will eventually give up.  At least that's the idea. Bruce could not say how many years this takes, only that it's "doable" if you are persistent  If not, he is happy to come back and dig them all out. 

The chic, Seattle-style bamboo crew.  Sorry John, you were at work and missed it.

But they will be back later this month-- all of this still has to go. 

A sad sight or a clean slate?  It depends on my mood of the day..