This is year 2 for 2 clumps of yellow groove that I transplanted VERY early spring last year. I dug 2, 4-foot root balls....GIANT things....Leaving about 10 feet on the culms. The culms died off entirely, and last year I got about 5 shoots on one clump, 1 on the other, with lots of micro shoots. This year I have about 50 shoots on the one, and about 15 on the other, about 8 feet tall. It's leafing out like a monster. I've been mulching, fertilizing, watering, etc. I dont really think I killed the big culms, because a visit later last year to the old grove revealed the entire grove had been winter-killed, and almost all the culms looked like mine.

The environment that I have moved the boo to is very different from the VERY old and established now-wild grove from whence it came. Now it's on a hill top in full sun. It came from the bottom of a south-facing slope in a deep river valley growing in a coal-infused railroad bed.

So now, I have a couple thick, but relatively small groves, with 1-2 inch dead culms thrusting upwards thru it, and out the top. I hope that the dead culms are a promise of what is to come, but with the radically different environments, I may not get the same results.

What are the experiences of those out there in Zone 5? I live in northwest Pennsylvania in a weird micro-climate due to lake-effect precipitation from Lake Erie. We get about twice the precipitation from those about 30 miles to our south or north, but the same temperatures. I would very much like to hear what I might expect, and your own experiences and challenges. Also, what can I do to prevent/minimize top kill over the winter? I may be able to go to relatively extreme measures...

Thanks

Ian