Backyard pics

[got ants]

This is how my growing area is set up. Three growing areas tied together. the pergola facing north, which is wood. The dry zone in the NE corner which is bamboo and corrugated plastic. the bamboo pergola which faces east, and is in between two coconut palms.





the roof of it


My buddy calls this my elevator shaft...lol

[Daethen]

Very nice. I wish our weather would allow for something like that.

[Junebug]

I love what you've done with the bamboo. Would you be willing to share some details of construction? I have several long pieces of the stuff just lying on the side of my house. It has dried and I may have waited to long to use it. Was your bamboo dry when you built your structure and how did you make the cuts, drill holes, and attach bolts without splitting. Any framing and connection details you could furnish would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[BobInBonita]

Love it!
Like the idea of distinct separate areas. I miss it with my new racking. It seems I'm always watering something that wouldn't have gotten as much when things were separate.
As Junebug asked - please elaborate a little on the bamboo. Do you have it on concrete? Up on piers? I can see some bolts and some wires, but.... It's beautiful, and I'm trying to figure out where I can do something like that.
Thanks for sharing. Bob

[Zoi2]

WOW that's cool....I can see a "honey do" summer project next year
Joann

[Ysa]

Beautiful! Love the tiki hut!

[got ants]

Thanks for the compliments.

The bamboo in both the corner and what my buddy calls an elevator, was cut and at least cured one month. It is mostly just Oldham's Bamboo that was cut from a deserted property along I-95 in Ft Laud. Some of the poles across the top is Black Bamboo. Some of the other varieties I don't have the name of.


I cemented the poles using hydraulic cement and made sure there was cement in the bottom of the holes so it cannot rot from the bottom up. This may not be the best way, so we'll see. The cross poles were secured using galvanized threaded rod that were set with wide galvy fender washers, lock washers, and regular nuts (not lock nuts or stainless) on both ends. I used threaded rod and cut off the excess. This negated the differences of the sized bamboo. Threaded rod by the foot was half the cost of lag bolts.

The bamboo poles across the top of the bamboo pergola were simply attached with a 1" decking screws and finish washesr. Same as the cora-plastic roofing material in the corner.. I used quartered bamboo (hand cut w/circular saw) across the corner structure as rafters.

The main pergola is all PT with hurricane straps. It is rock solid and also has sprinkler lines fed up to it. I'll do the same in the future to the bamboo "elevator" but not the corner "dry zone".

If I would do anything different, I would use screening cloth across the main pergola, but after I build my next area (covered circular white plastic roof with no rain thru), the other areas will be just display areas. Think go big, or go home.

It's just a grow in process since I started growing cids `bout 3 yrs ago.

BTW, I'm looking at doing lights inside my Florida Room, just gotta get the wifey's OK [yeah-right]

[CTB]

Very nicely done, it looks so tropical. Hope all our Florida folks pick up this thread. You did a good job. TFS

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by got ants

Thanks for the compliments.

The bamboo in both the corner and what my buddy calls an elevator, was cut and at least cured one month. It is mostly just Oldham's Bamboo that was cut from a deserted property along I-95 in Ft Laud. Some of the poles across the top is Black Bamboo. Some of the other varieties I don't have the name of.


I cemented the poles using hydraulic cement and made sure there was cement in the bottom of the holes so it cannot rot from the bottom up. This may not be the best way, so we'll see. The cross poles were secured using galvanized threaded rod that were set with wide galvy fender washers, lock washers, and regular nuts (not lock nuts or stainless) on both ends. I used threaded rod and cut off the excess. This negated the differences of the sized bamboo. Threaded rod by the foot was half the cost of lag bolts.

The bamboo poles across the top of the bamboo pergola were simply attached with a 1" decking screws and finish washesr. Same as the cora-plastic roofing material in the corner.. I used quartered bamboo (hand cut w/circular saw) across the corner structure as rafters.

The main pergola is all PT with hurricane straps. It is rock solid and also has sprinkler lines fed up to it. I'll do the same in the future to the bamboo "elevator" but not the corner "dry zone".

If I would do anything different, I would use screening cloth across the main pergola, but after I build my next area (covered circular white plastic roof with no rain thru), the other areas will be just display areas. Think go big, or go home.

It's just a grow in process since I started growing cids `bout 3 yrs ago.

BTW, I'm looking at doing lights inside my Florida Room, just gotta get the wifey's OK [yeah-right]

Thank you for responding. You're framing work is impressive and looks so tight...like it was scribed. Very nice job!

I appreciate the information you provided. It has answered my burning questions about cure time and construction. My cut bamboo is probably useless for this type of application. It has cured far too long, and I fear that at this stage it's far too brittle to work with...such a shame, because I have a whole stack of it on the side of my house. I've considered cutting my supply into sections and incorporating the pieces with dried coconuts to use as borders.

[BobInBonita]

Thanks for the details. How does the saying go: "Copying is the sincerest form of flattery"? Now that I've seen yours, I'm looking for a place to do something similar. One more question please - How big is the vertical bamboo? It looks like 4-5 inches in the picture. I'm on the hunt for a stand that needs trimming, because I think that would be expensive to buy.