Marcus Chen 
The short answer: yes, you can grow bamboo in Utah — but success depends heavily on choosing the right species and giving the plant consistent water in one of the driest states in the US. Utah presents a genuinely challenging combination for bamboo: cold winters (especially in the north), hot and intensely sunny summers, low … Read more
One of the most common questions about bamboo — and one of the most important for anyone planning to plant it near buildings, fences, or neighbouring properties — is how deep the roots actually go. The answer surprises many people: bamboo roots are shallower than almost any comparable plant. But that doesn’t mean they’re less … Read more
The short answer: yes, most bamboo species are evergreen — they retain their foliage year-round and stay green through winter. But bamboo’s relationship with cold and dormancy is more nuanced than a simple yes or no, and understanding the details helps you choose the right species for your climate. What “Evergreen” Means for Bamboo An … Read more
Last summer I was standing in my backyard holding a cold coffee, staring at two completely different bamboo installations and wondering why I’d never written about this. On my left: a solid bamboo fence running along the property line, doing…
It was a gray Tuesday morning in November — the kind where the rain has been going since Thursday and you have genuinely stopped noticing — when I walked out to my back fence and just stood there with my…
It was a Saturday morning, coffee in hand, staring at my neighbor’s bathroom window that looked directly into my patio. I’d been tolerating it for two years. That day, I finally decided to do something about it. By 2 p.m., I had a bamboo privacy screen installed, a few sore knuckles, and an enormous sense … Read more
I still remember standing in my backyard last spring, staring at a stack of bamboo fencing rolls piled against the garage wall like some kind of botanical crime scene. Four different products. Four separate Amazon orders. One very patient spouse who had stopped asking questions. I had set out to find the best bamboo fencing … Read more
It was a Saturday morning in late June when I finally admitted defeat. I was standing in my backyard holding a rotted cedar plank that had basically crumbled in my hand, staring at the gap it left in my fence…
I still remember standing in my backyard on a humid July afternoon, staring at a patch of sad, yellowing tomato plants and fighting back actual tears. I had spent nearly $300 that spring — on seeds, soil amendments, a fancy drip irrigation kit — and every single thing I planted looked like it wanted to … Read more
Last summer, I nearly lost my marriage over a hot tub. Not because of anything scandalous — but because I spent $4,200 on a spa installation without telling my husband, and then discovered our backyard had zero privacy. Our neighbors could see everything from their deck. We used the tub exactly once before the awkward … Read more