Leaving it or cutting it won't make much difference to the new growth since the culms are dead and dried out. I personally leave mine in that shape, but if I did cut it back, I would cut it about halfway down, to help support the new growth and keep it from looking too ratty.

i wonder why it died back in the 1st place over the fall and winter....

What climate zone are you in and what is the bamboo species? The answer to those questions is critical to answering yours about what happened.

Also, there is no point in keeping the dead culms. They are ugly and removing them won't hurt at all.

As Kudzu said, your location and the specie is important to determining the cause of it dying back. It could be a tropical bamboo and it got too cold in your area, or maybe it dried out too much during the winter months. It may not have gotten established enough to make it through a cold winter. Take good care of it throughout this summer and into the fall, keeping it watered, but not over watered, a little fertilizer might help it out, even Miracle Gro, just to help it get started.

Is the soil heavy clay or sandy soil?

it is growing in clay......the zone here is 6.....as far as which bamboo.. i cant tell you, .....talked to home depot and where depot purchased it from and the nursery didn't know either......but it was quite healthy looking ....bout 5 to 6 feet tall......one more note.. it is planted in the east to west wind pattern.....thx

There are about 1200 species of bamboo, and probably a couple hundred commercially available in the U.S., and they have a wide range of hardiness. That is why it would have been useful to be able to identify what you have. You probably have one of the many common varieties of Phyllostachys. Typically, most of the members of this genus are hardy enough so that the root system does not completely die during cold, snowy winters, but not hardy enough for aboveground growth to survive. With luck, your plant will continue to survive the winters, but you will probably see the new, annual growth -- culms and leaves -- die each year. If you get a really bad winter, it's possible that you could lose the whole plant, so it would be wise to put a pile of mulch on it each fall for some protection.

Interesting though...i now have 7 culms growing at the bottom of the dead culms (which were 7 in all)......in less then 3 weeks one is a foot tall already......so now i don't know whether to take back for a refund or keep the plant.......

keep the plant.......

I agree with albert. It may have had a difficult winter, but the fact that it's shooting shows it's healthy and established.

my bamboo plants now are average 5 feet tall ...how ever the trunks are so thin that there falling over. Should i leave them alone or stake them....don't know if you can see the picture that

That is personal preference. I leave mine like they are unless they are getting in the way of a walkway or something else. They get better sunlight if left 'open' as opposed to standing them upright and being close together.