The normal pruning required is not a lot of work – if you are the type who is prepared to trim a hedge or prune a few roses on a regular basis, then you’ve got what it takes to properly care for a bougainvillea. Wait to see how the bougainvillea responds to the pruning. If this is not possible, use a pallet knife to ease the roots from the sides of the pot as opposed to simply ripping the plant out. Provide water for the bougainvillea plant after pruning it. Start with the smallest pot as bougainvillea plant do well if its roots are pot-bound. Make ... Video of the Day. Below are a few tricks to improve your chances of a successful transplant. (Bougainvillea ‘Ms. Bougainvillea really resents root disturbance and the tops can even die to the ground - but new shoots should develop from the crown of the plant. Learn how to plant and care for bougainvillea and discover 8 of the best bougainvilleas to grow in your garden. They respond well to pruning, trimming and pinching for a better growth habit and shape. Wait up to one month and if you do not see any new growth, you may conclude the bougainvillea is dead. If you want blooms and your plant looks healthy, focus your efforts on supplementing phosphate and potassium, adding nitrogen only when your plant’s leaves start to look slightly less green than usual. Bougainvillea is known for its colorful display of flowers, or bracts. Typically it will put on a startling 36 inches of growth every year, up to a limit of about 30 feet. Bougainvilleas (Bougainvillea spp. Cut away the outer bark from a stem to look at the inside. Give the bougainvillea a good soak after planting to help it establish and mitigate shock. If you want to keep bougainvillea outdoors all year long, it's best to be in hardiness zone 9 or higher. I don't know what your tree would need. Less than a week later, all of the leaves and color had dropped, and I am left with twigs. Thank you for all your advice! Although bougainvillea shrubs are sturdy plants that often withstand extensive abuse without showing signs of trauma, they do have a limit to the amount of stress they can tolerate and continue thriving. Check the bougainvillea for foliage growth above the ground. How to Troubleshoot a Bougainvillea. All Rights Reserved. Bougainvillea is a perennial vine that can grow to 30 feet, depending on the variety. If the inside of the stem is drab and gray, the plant may be dead. Wear gloves and long sleeves when working with bougainvillea because the thorns can scratch you. If you don’t have growing space or live in a suitable climate, you can plant bougainvillea in a pot. With all the right growing requirements, the bougainvillea has all the resources it needs to recover from transplant shock. There’s even a process called “coppicing,” whereby continually cutting a tree back to its stump to regrow can, in theory, enable it to live forever. Make it 1 to 1 1/2 feet larger in diameter than the stems of the bougainvillea shrub. Monitor the growth of the new shoots and cut back any that begin growing the wrong way. Cut away the outer bark from a stem to look at the inside. If the stem breaks crisply with a snap, the bougainvillea may be dead. With this in mind, choose a spot against a warm, protected wall where you want to add a BIG splash of color. Leave any stems intact that may not be dead. Its bracts "bloom" May-December on new wood. Bougainvillea can be grown in the Bay Area however, because they are semi-topical there are some guidelines prospective bougainvillea buyers should be aware of: Where frost is expected, vines should be given a protected, warm wall or the warmest spot in the garden. I made a post here before talking about how I got some bougainvilleas from a plant clearance website. Keeping the new shoots in line can prevent an overgrown and messy-looking bougainvillea in the following months. 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