You don't have enough bamboo to supply a furniture or industrial fiber factory (i.e. thousands and thousands of acres), and like me you have too much to consider it a garden feature. I only have about 2 acres of bamboo-which is plenty as far as I'm concerned. It can be a labor intensive plant. I can say, however, that it saves me from purchasing mulch. Thinning and grooming the grove produces a huge amount cane that I chip using a garden-variety chipper. When I get into the swing of things I can produce a 30-40 pound bag of mulch in about 7 minutes. It ends up saving about $700 a year (the cost of about two truckloads of garden mulch). It isn't as pretty as cedar, but it's free...and I get the exercise. I've found I never stop grinding out mulch just because I've run out of bamboo culls, but simply because I can't spend my life grinding up bamboo.

see my reply on bambooweb..... Rick

If your winter low temps are never below 20, count yourself in zone 8, not zone 7. I don't know what you mean by "blue bamboo" and I'm assuming "black bamboo" means Phyllostachys Nigra. Most running bamboos prefer lots of sunlight but can get by fine with three hours of afternoon sunshine. Clumping bamboos usually prefer more shade and in particular afternoon sunshine can burn them. A notable exception is Fargesia Robusta which would be an excellent choice for a clumping, non-invasive variety.

This is the first time in a while I've had a chance to read through the more recent posts. I have to say my heart goes out to Melissa Stewart, who never did post again, sadly. My first impulse was to suggest putting a lock on the bedroom door! BTW, maifleur01's post of August 28, 2016 wasn't very clear to me. I think what she was saying was that AL facilities might be helpful to early/moderate dementia patients, but not all of them are willing to be moved there. This is very true. My MIL did not want to move. However, we did not give her a choice. She had lived with us for 7 yrs and it was stressing my DH's (her only child) health. The facility we found for her is a world away from the "just sitting in chairs" places. It is a 5-acre secure campus, complete with its own senior center and as mentioned before, a full schedule of activities every day. The regular routines and voluntary activities helped very much in slowing down the progression of her dementia. Her anxiety lessened, and she no longer needed the anti-depressants or BP bills either. She was the ideal candidate for a facility because she was very social but personally awkward at making friends (she felt it was being "pushy" and unladylike to be the instigator). The casual, regular social interactions enabled her to finally make new friends. This non-profit facility is the third-ranked of its type in the state. It has the lowest staff turnover percentage and one of the highest staff-to-resident ratios. The downside is, you need $$$ for this. Without exception we found the better quality full-care facilities did not take Medicaid patients. IF you passed the interview, had a signed evaluation of your mental/physical health from your doctor, and could claim sufficient financial assets for at least 5 yrs of rental expense, you could be accepted as a resident. In such case, as a current resident if you needed care in the future and ran out of funds, the facility can CHOOSE to apply for Medicaid on your behalf so you may continue to be a resident. Most non-profits will do this. Many for-profits, which unfortunately comprise the bulk of the industry and who are rapidly buying up existing non-profits when possible, do NOT do this. No funds = no residency. Always be sure, if you are looking for a facility for an elderly family member, that you make several visits, research their rankings (both federal and state inspections), and ask as many questions about "what if?" as you can. Just FYI, an article last week in the WS Journal on "We're running out of caregivers" said the average cost of a home health aide, full time (8 hr day) is now $49,000/yr. Remember if the aide is hired directly, you are also responsible for Social Security and other taxes, as an employer.