Bamboo for Gardens [ILLUSTRATED]

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
A resurgence of interest in bamboos calls for an expert to help gardeners select appropriate plants for a given setting. Meredith's approach perfectly suits this objective, with engaging personal experience illuminating comprehensive coverage of the subject at hand. The book's attractive format opens the door to the usefulness and beauty of bamboos, presenting a vast range of possibilities to enhance a garden or landscape. And although avid plant lovers have generally overcome a fear of the invasiveness associated with these plants, Meredith addresses the issue with a chapter pointing out landscaping options and maintenance requirements. He also lists bamboos for special situations, so readers can glean which plants might be used to create an evergreen privacy screen, lush grove, or other design ideas that might translate to a private garden. Concluding with an encyclopedic reference that provides particulars on form, color, cultural requirements, and the habits of each species, Meredith's fine resource offers clarity and enlightenment to new and experienced gardeners alike. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"From ground covers to timber types, Ted Jordan Meredith, author of Bamboo for Gardens, knows his subject."—Oregonian, July 31, 2002 (Oregonian )

"Really want to know about bamboo? This is the book to get."—John Van de Water, Newark Star-Ledger, April 7, 2002 (John Van de Water Newark Star-Ledger )

For anyone interested in learning about bamboo, this is the book to have. -- Kym Pokorny, The Oregonian, September 13, 2001

From ground covers to timber types, Ted Jordan Meredith, author of Bamboo for Gardens, knows his subject.Oregonian, July 31, 2002 (Oregonian )

Really want to know about bamboo? This is the book to get.John Van de Water, Newark Star-Ledger, April 7, 2002 (Newark Star-Ledger )

The best all-around and certainly the most up-to-date treatment of these curious grasses. . . . A good introduction and a worthy guide. -- Jim Waddick, The American Gardener, March/April 2002

Will help gardeners understand the practicalities as well as the aesthetics of bamboo gardening. -- Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Times Book Review, December 2, 2001

[I] would recommend it to both the newcomer and expert alike - it is a required read. -- Ian Connor, Bamboo, The Magazine of the American Bamboo Society, August 2001

About the Author
Ted Meredith first discovered bamboo while looking for a rapidly growing evergreen screen to block out the new housing construction next to his home. Once he learned more about this amazing plant, he became, in his own words, "passionately captivated by it." Author of several books on viticulture, enology, and wine appreciation, Ted decided to apply his writing and photography skills to his new passion, bamboo. His goal was to help gardeners appreciate the advantages of bamboo, which he feels is "largely undiscovered in the western world." To this end, in addition to writing Bamboo for Gardens and articles on bamboo, Ted was the keynote speaker at the national meeting of the American Bamboo Society in 2001.

A native of Montana, Ted now lives in Kirkland, Washington, where he writes and works with computer networking and automation technologies. In addition to writing and photography, Ted enjoys cooking, hiking, and music. He is currently studying alliums, specifically the garlics, Allium sativum and A. longicuspis.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Bamboos are members of Bambusoideae, a subfamily of Poaceae. The great diversity of Bambusoideae bespeaks a long period of highly adaptive development. Bamboo forms include delicate, fernlike, tropical, herbaceous plants, perennial groundcovers, shrubs, vining climbers, and arborescent timber bamboos. For our modern world, these enduring grasses offer us great beauty and utility.

At least 90 genera and 1200 species are distributed throughout the world's temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions. A highly diverse member of the grass family, bamboos grow from sea level to high mountainous regions. Some groundcover bamboos reach a height of only a few inches and can be mowed like a lawn. At the other end of the scale are timber bamboos that live up to their name, growing like timber and forming towering forests. These giant grasses are harvestable for construction, paper pulp, and food. The uses for bamboo literally number in the thousands.

Bamboo is a principal defining element for many traditional cultures. Bamboo is shelter. It is food, and the means to acquire food. From womb to tomb, bamboo is the source of both physical and spriritual sustenance-the fiber of life.

Bamboo also offers many benefits for modern societies. Among them, bamboo is a prodigious and radpidly renewable source of fiber. Even as the world's forests and habitats rapidly decline, bamboo offers some solutions. As yet, however, this offer is largely unheard, and bamboo itself is at risk in many parts of the world, from unmanaged use by dense populations and from indiscriminate land clearing. The destruction of land and habitats in South America is most heinous. Some species have already disappeared from the face of the earth forever.