Tasmania’s major supplier of Bamboo
We are Geoff and Allyson Pyne, owners and operators of Bamboo Van Diemen (BVD). Our expedition with Bamboo began right here in Dromedary in 2018, when we planted our first parent stock with plants imported from the Gold Coast. In the interest of full disclosure – we are not native Tasmanians. That in no way lessens our love for this island and its people, the real reason we ‘migrated’ from the Big Island, just one year prior.
Let’s be fair dinkum – we were very tired of our previous busy lives working multiple jobs and lots of hours paying off our mortgage. Having never travelled across Bass Strait, we first felt the laconic lifestyle of Tassie in 2015, as the result of a 2 week house swap. We immediately caught ‘Tassie Fever’ and had decided by the time we arrived back in our previous home town, Newcastle, that the shackles had to be removed and our ‘Tree Change’ plan sprang into action.
Suffice to say, things have changed a bit since then.
Despite this newfound knowledge, convincing us that Bamboo is a good thing – not bad, wasn’t going to be easy. We previously had the absolute misfortune of purchasing a house that used the dreadful Running Bamboo, as a nice ‘little’ screen in their (OUR) yard. That we spent most weekends over a six month period tracking and removing a kilometre (yes really) of underground rhizomes should have been enough to make us shudder at the word Bamboo, much less wanting to grow and sell it! Being the fatalists that we are, what happened to set us on that course is a bit of a story…..https://bamboovandiemen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/About-us-story.mp4
There are many Bamboo enthusiasts who will tell you that Bamboo will save the planet. I’m not as sure of that as I am it can certainly make a difference. I’m willing to be proven wrong however and am more than happy to promote and grow as much as I can, to live a better life and
give back to planet earth, a little of what I’ve taken away.
This becomes possible due to Bamboo consuming more CO2 and therefore produces more oxygen, than an equivalent size stand of Native Trees. It is claimed up to an astonishing 35% more Oxygen! The culms can be used as timber, food, bio fuel, fibre and more than 5000
more.
BVD now supplies most major Nurseries and Garden Centres across the state with Non-invasive Clumping Bamboo varieties suited to most applications.
Our introduction of Gracilis Bamboo to Tassie has been a true game changer to domestic screening. The ability of this plant, to create a dense screen quickly, in a small space, is unparalleled.
The all-natural production techniques we use demand climate control and our baby Bamboos are protected until their roots are established. We then ‘kick them out’ into the Tassie climate where they are toughened up, ready for sale. Customers can then rest assured that their investment will withstand what our climate can throw at them.
We are constantly giving different Bamboo species the ‘Tassie Test’ – many have failed but we have a few that are now ‘Tassie tough’. We are busy propagating these and will offer them for sale in the Spring/Summer of 2024/25.
The plants we have offered for sale since we began operations vary in use from domestic screening, through stand-alone ornamentals and big timber windbreaks. Most have multiple uses once established.
We are more than happy to discuss your needs be it a fast growing screen in an awkward space, a Japanese styled garden or protection from the Tassie wind.
Visits to our Nursery are welcome but only by appointment. We encourage such visits so you can see what a couple of ‘sticks’ in a small pot can become in a very short space of time.
Hoping to see you soon,
Geoff & Ally