What kind of bamboo are you thinking of planting?

I am in Zone 8, and don't have your winter extremes, so I have never done anything to protect mine, except for some in pots that are not very hardy, and they go into my greenhouse.

I do know people who are in colder climates who protect their bamboo by bending the culms over to the ground and putting tarps over them for the winter. And certainly, juvenile plants will not be as hardy as mature specimens, but I'm not sure that bamboo get hardier over time than they are naturally going to get.

All you can do is plant the hardiest bamboo species available (like Ph. nuda or F. nitida), try your techniques, and see what happens. However, in your Zone, you should not expect the bamboo to retain foliage without protection.

Bamboo is evergreen and needs constant water intake and nourishment for the foliage through winter. Roots and rhizome cannot freeze otherwise the plant will die.

Sever long lasting sub-zero temperatures freeze the soil to deeper and deeper depths daily during this time. Because bamboo is shallow rooted a heavy, deep mulch is used at the base of the grove. The amount of mulch should be 1 and � times the depth of the average winter ground freeze, ie: USDA Zone 8 = 3" mulch..
Excellent mulches include dried leaves, pine needles, wood chips and even snow. Remove and compost mulch in spring.