It's a grass, and after a while it's sort of self-mulching. You don't try to clean up the leaf drop around it. It takes care of itself, and pretty soon it will hold back weeds in its own area. Bamboo is also a cash crop, according to Simpson, who has installed several groves on the North Coast. Timber bamboos are very valuable.
Black bamboo is valuable for the plants it can produce.
If a cane isn't valuable for wood you can eat the shoots. Right now people producing bamboo shoots have the market to themselves. Bamboo canes are also used in making musical instruments, fishing poles, scaffolding and buildings because of its strength. Compared to traditional landscape ornamentals, bamboo may seem a bit pricey. And it can take up to five years to grow a bamboo plant to saleable size when planted from seed or rhizome.