Topic: Bending bamboo?

[Nora42]

My neighbour has a large clump of bamboo which is an excellent source of free if not wonky canes for me.
I have bent four canes into a loop and secured them with twine to see if I can bend them into a suitable arch shape for next spring.
Anybody else try such madcap things? I did think about tying them to a rose arch to keep that shape but to be honest this was too much for and they really whip through the air if you let go by accident.

all sounds a bit perverse but I will report back in  a few months to see if they have keep their shape and will be of any use.
Nora.

[woodybrown]

Steam and gentle pressure should do the trick . hope this helps

[GrannieAnnie]

I'd like having a ready source of bamboo but don't want the risk of growing it. A tiny bamboo plant was in our yard when we moved here and I didn't understand the hidden threat. Now it pops up in various spots even though we've tried hard to eradicate it. Your idea for an arbor sounds like a great one. Pics please!

[ACE]

Are you cutting it green or waiting for the hard dead stalks. The green whippy ends will shape up into any form you like and then harden as it dies.

[Nora42]

Hi they are greenish canes, at one end they are quite dry and brittle so I just pulled around the whippy end to make a loop and tied them together. It's not very high tech so no steam involved
Yesterday I showed my neighbour and one of the strings came undone - good news is that the cane did not revert to straight but just made a wide curve.
Hope you can see from this picture, the canes are quite thick and even though all the curves won't be equal I am hoping the effect will be good and I can attach the straighter ends of the canes to the legs of the arch.
Nora

[ACE]

Put some 2 foot stiff ones in the ground and peg out the shape and size of the arch you want. Then weave the thin ends into the shape leaving long straights for legs. You might have to tie a few ends in with wire or string,  keep going until you have the depth of arch you want. Next spring you will have a ready shaped arch and all you have to do is stand it upright in place and trim off the bits that were stuck in the ground You can even bring the legs in and weave them into a few 'ladder'  bits of cane.