sarahiki Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 The house we've just moved into has a lot of overgrown landscaping, including an indeterminate number of bougainvillea bushes. One is blooming; the others just lurk, waiting to attack you with their horrible thorns. We keep cutting and cutting and they grow back overnight. Like evil alien spawn.The funny thing is, I always wanted to have bougainvillea in my garden because I thought they were so pretty. Little did I know how evil they actually are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Yes. I particularly don't recommend it around your front door. Ours grows leaves and thorns like crazy and never blooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 They are probably not getting enough sun and or too much water. Bougainvilleas prefer to be stressed out now and then; ours are actually blooming quite well through this drought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Ugh - invasive and best kept jailed to pots If they're along a perimeter they can be good entrance deterrents, but otherwise prune them back (even though it will encourage new growth, if you do it enough you may be able to "bonsai" them). Otherwise, you can water them to death Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahiki Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Ugh - invasive and best kept jailed to pots If they're along a perimeter they can be good entrance deterrents, but otherwise prune them back (even though it will encourage new growth, if you do it enough you may be able to "bonsai" them). Otherwise, you can water them to death I like that: bougainvillea = barbed wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverartfox Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Isn't Vertigo58 our resident bougainvillea expert? Haven't seen any posts from him lately...where is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Transplant some kudzu nearby to choke it out flipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Transplant some kudzu nearby to choke it out and then RUN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Better run fast.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Isn't Vertigo58 our resident bougainvillea expert? Haven't seen any posts from him lately...where is he?Come to think of it, where the hell is Vertigo58!?!?! He has not logged in over 5 months.Did he say goodbye somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Come to think of it, where the hell is Vertigo58!?!?! He has not logged in over 5 months. Did he say goodbye somewhere? Was he banned?? (Im kidding....Im kidding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I dont know but I hope he's ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Yeah, I miss Vert; hope he's OK. I exiled my bougainvillea from the front door to the back yard. It hasn't gone crazy yet but it's still alive. Very glad to have that thorny thing away from the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Strange he's not around - maybe he'll sense us talking about him and stop by.. I stopped by the new place this evening and there is a wild bougainvillea on the front side of the house. I'm thinking it will need to be exiled as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan the Man Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 I miss Vertigo too. I found many of his posts to be entertaining, and I enjoyed learning about the "old" East End.Does bougainvillea freeze back or lose its foliage in the winter? If not, it would definitely make a good security hedge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arivechi Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 The house we've just moved into has a lot of overgrown landscaping, including an indeterminate number of bougainvillea bushes. One is blooming; the others just lurk, waiting to attack you with their horrible thorns. We keep cutting and cutting and they grow back overnight. Like evil alien spawn.The funny thing is, I always wanted to have bougainvillea in my garden because I thought they were so pretty. Little did I know how evil they actually are!If you eventually want to rip it out of the ground because it's out of control, you can always keep some if it around by planting cuttings in small pots. Then transplant to larger pots when they look healthy. I agree that it stays contained in the containers and that in a pot you can control the "stress" that it experiences. Lots of sun and only moderate water will trigger those bracts to turn colors. They do really well in Santa Barbara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Does bougainvillea freeze back or lose its foliage in the winter? If not, it would definitely make a good security hedge.The ones I had at my condo died when it got below freezing a few years ago. A few of them managed to recover and took over the space from the ones that died - they grow like weeds if they like where they are planted....and yes, the thorns hurt - I still have scars from pruning them!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsets Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Mine has survived all cold snaps here, routine stripping by caterpillars, choking by morning glory vines, and the heat and drought this summer. And it keeps growing like crazy. So, yeah, stress is good. I don't mind, since it guards the back corner of the yard. Anyone who tries to come over the fence there is not going to be happy about it!Long sleeves, gloves, and double yard bags are necessary when pruning, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Mine has survived all cold snaps here, routine stripping by caterpillars, choking by morning glory vines, and the heat and drought this summer. And it keeps growing like crazy. So, yeah, stress is good. I don't mind, since it guards the back corner of the yard. Anyone who tries to come over the fence there is not going to be happy about it!Long sleeves, gloves, and double yard bags are necessary when pruning, however.Ours has done well, too. Planted along the fenceline where there is some sun, but it's bracketed by trees so it doesn't get out of hand. I don't even bother with trying to bag the prunings. I just prune it right before a heavy trash day and throw it on the pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahiki Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 A couple of my accursed bougainvillea look quite dead after the freezes we've had. Unfortunately, the one that I liked is one of the dead looking ones. I'm planning to use this opportunity to chop down the ones in the yard, but I'm wondering about the one near the garage... the one I like. Do you think it's really dead? Or just dormant, from the freeze? It's entirely brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 You may be able to check for life on a lateral stem close to the primary one - you can nick it with a fingernail (or something hard but not enough to cut through) to see if there's any green and softness left. Oh, and I did something I rarely do. The bougainvilleas I mentioned earlier...well...I committed herbicide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 A couple of my accursed bougainvillea look quite dead after the freezes we've had. Unfortunately, the one that I liked is one of the dead looking ones. I'm planning to use this opportunity to chop down the ones in the yard, but I'm wondering about the one near the garage... the one I like. Do you think it's really dead? Or just dormant, from the freeze? It's entirely brown.Bougainvillea's DO NOT handle a freeze well at all, especially the hard freeze we had last week. The best thing to do is to cut them back to the knub and wait it out until spring. Some will deffinately come back, but you really need to get the dead foilage off to save the root systems energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahiki Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Bougainvillea's DO NOT handle a freeze well at all, especially the hard freeze we had last week. The best thing to do is to cut them back to the knub and wait it out until spring. Some will deffinately come back, but you really need to get the dead foilage off to save the root systems energy.Thanks Gary. Do you think it's better to wait until any danger of another freeze is past to prune, or can I do it anytime? I am looking forward to cutting these bad boys back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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