Some type of saw, such as a pruning saw or even a carpenters saw. A wire saw works very well in tight spaces. A limb pruner with at least a two inch wide cut. A machete works great also, as does a hachet. A spare shovel and a strong back. You may not need all of these, but it is better to have them in case that you do.

Good Luck

Kt

If you've got power anywhere near, bring a Sawzall with several long blades. Most importantly, bring a demolition bar to pry with so you don't break your shovel. You also need water to get the root ball wet and plastic garbage sacks to put around the root balls to prevent drying. I'm not a big fan of axes because the rhizomes are really tough and you shock the plant by battering away with an axe. It also helps to have one or two friends who can add muscle.

Strong back, weak mind.
Pickaxe/mattock-bypass lopping shears- small pruning saw.
Also a sharp spade and a mill file to resharpen on site.
Jugs of waters and material to wrap both the rootballs and the culms so they don't dry or windburn in transit.

hello mshaffer...first off you want to get as big a rhizome ball as you can..bigger means bigger bamboo and alot faster grove.2nd/id get one not from the center as that is old growth area..go to the outside edges.3rd/id wait till sept or so in order to give your wanted plant time to devolop.you want one as big as you lift/haul..i prefere young plants that are not over 15 feet so i can wrap the branch/leaves with a small rope to hold it togther and gently bend back to fit in my suv...you can cover the leave with a plastic bag and let stick out the back but i worry about the cars behind me...try to keep the root ball/rhizomes all togther and wrap in burlap then put in a plastic bag and add water so the rhizomes don't dry out...use mulch after you plant it..rhizomes are hell to cut...i am useing a new bamboo shovel that mid atlantic bamboo has just invinted,,its top handle.slides up and down on the shovels core acting like a pole driver and it works great..its costly but for me and my habit of digging up alot of free boo its great.i have 18 different species so far of known bamboo vs unkown wild bamboo.you might want to check out the bambooweb.info/Plaant.php site for more bamboo info for which i am a member off.

i hope it helps
chele

Here is a link that might be useful: east coast bamboo group

Thanks, I'll probably get a mix of older stumps and newer plants since they want me to dig up the ones closest to their foundation. The older stumps will still grow back eventually right, even with no foliage?

"older stumps will still grow back"

If you dig out at the rhizome level, there won't be any stumps.

stumps don't grow back.

If you cut culms off (useless for Phyllostachys propagation), the stumps will remain a long time, so cut them at or below grade if you reall want to clear the area.

Alright, I thought the stumps would be viable but I just wanted to make sure. I'd hate to dig them up and nothing happen when I bring them home..

It's not that nothing will happen if you bring home the "stumps". I think what they are trying to tell you is that the rhizome which the stump is attached to will be viable (it will produce new shoots most likely). However, the stump will not grown again. Bamboo shoots and reaches its ultimate height within a period of a few weeks and then that culm will not grow any taller even if it is cut. But digging up those sections will most likely produce new culms though they will definately be smaller in diameter than the stumps that are there. The bigger rootball you can get, the better... keep that in mind. Good luck

How far can I let them stick out the trunk without getting pulled over? I can fit about 12' in the car. I guess I should just buy a trailer but mot of them aren't long enough. I guess I could just get a trailer so I could let the bamboo hang over it.

A bobcat. :)

Is this still available to other collectors? If so, how to contact? Also, if anyone else in DC area has rubromarginata or other, would like to hear as we are building a reference collection for school children in N. Va.
Thanks!
Peter, Chantilly, Va

mshaffer-
Call the Highway Patrol. In my state (WA) you can't have anything protruding more than 6' beyond the rear axle, and it has to be flagged. If I've got some tall bamboo and I don't want to top it, sometimes it's flexible enough to bend the top around in a 180 degree turn. When I have bamboo that's protruding, I always use twine and do a tight spiral wrap around anything sticking out the rear. It won't hurt the branches or leaves and it prevents leaf burn and dessication if they can't whip around in the wind. So, once I've done that I can just attach another piece of twine to the tip of the bamboo, and bend it around and tie it off inside my van. I haven't tried this with rubro, so be careful: some bamboo are really flexible and others will shatter if you bend them around too much.

Here's a link to the ad on Craigslist

Free Bamboo

mshaffer....most important tool in my book is the heavy wrecking bar. once you stick a spade shovel all the way around what you want out...(that is where the maddock comes in handy to sever the rhizomes) you get that wrecking bar underneath the ball and start to pry up on it. it will "pop" out of the ground. there were many posts last season about making/selling the bamboo digging tool that someone else suggested. Wild Bill made a great one last year. I didn't make one. personally if you go out and dig with a sharpened shovel(use a grinder to sharpen the edge real good)..i'd bring two just in case and a sharpened mattuck. you should be good to go. All the other posts had viable info. one thing. I used shrink wrap that you would use for palletizing goods/material to pallets for shipping. I used that to wrap all my divisions into one big fat stem....tie a red flag on it. the reason i did this was because 1. It protects the leaves from transpiration when traveling. 2. It also gives the culms stability and although it is an odd looking it is way better than having a bunch of culms all over the place. what i did was after i cut my divisions, i bagged the rootballs with rags and wet them down heavy....then all of the culms sticking out the back i wrapped with shrink wrap. after i got what i thought would be enough without getting pulled over, i cut the tops off with pruning shears or loppers....Hope this helps. this is FYI....it worked good for me.

Kurt

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kstanwick-
That looks like a really good technique. I have only one issue to raise about this and I don't know the answer. I've previously used only twine to do the same wrap. I was going to use visqueen or a painter's plastic drop cloth, as well, but someone told me I would increase my chances of cooking the leaves on a hot day (greenhouse effect), so I haven't done any wrapping like you have. Any thoughts?

Ah....yes i do Kudzu.... i would do this method if: A)...you were traveling a far distance. wind would definitely increase your leaf burn traveling @ 65mph for almost 3 hrs like it did. Using this method i had no leaf burn/loss. B)....I did my dig late in the afternoon where i didn't have the sun out to cook the leaves. I also wet the entire plant so the leaves were wet as well. this might also lead to the cooking process, but i would dig in the afternoon so you are travleing evening time. My biggest concern was traveling 2/3 hrs @65mph.....I believed that i would have caused more havoc on the interstate with leaves blowing off the culms than this way. C)....I finally found a use for that roll of shrink wrap that i had onhand for years. I'm glad i finally found a good use for it. D)...when i got home it was dark and i cut the shrink wrap open and watered the plants right in my truck spraying the leaves too. that gave them a refresher after the long drive....kind of like me cracking a cold one when i got home. I felt much better after a little moisture

Kurt

I just got back, here are few pictures. Does anybody know what species it is? The new shoots were deep blue in color.

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I saw those pics in another group. someone mentioned henon. I was under the assumption that you thought it was Rubro. From reading only...i have two small henons i got last year. Henon tends to have a gray color culms when mature. that is all i can pretty much tell you. Rubro is on my want list....get water on those babies... nice divisions. How was digging? I love the Taurus/Bamboo mover pic.

Kurt