5. I pruned it down to 2 major trunks & trained it to grow up the right side of the garage. The startling colors of the plant are actually from bracts or modified leaves, not flowers as they appear. You also can prune after flowering. Yes, Purple Queen would be the closest. Your cost for the products will be no higher but Joy Us garden receives a small commission. You don’t need to cut it back hard unless it’s severely overgrown. You might nip branches that are in the way now, but any heavy pruning … Bougainvillea bloom on new wood, so prune to stimulate the growth of new branches. Learn how to prune a bougainvillea as part of its vertical training and to help increase the impact of this tropical plant. Here’s how I prune and trim my bougainvillea for maximum bloom. Because we experience a handful or 2 of evenings dipping below 30F, I wait until mid-March through early April to do the big pruning on my bougies.In addition, I prune after each big flowering throughout the season. They can grow and climb and invade new parts of a flower bed easily. Want to see this happen in your own backyard? It was work, but very well worth it in the end.My Bougainvillea Barbara Karst (which reaches 25′) next to my garage here in Tucson never gets that tall because a freeze usually knocks it back. If you want to know when and how to prune a bougainvillea after a light freeze, here are a few tips on how and when to do it. In winters, when you bring the pot indoors, place it at a spot where it can receive an ample amount of light. A full sun site is the best and bougainvillea flower most when the temperatures are moderate with long cooler nights in spring. By: Bonnie L. Grant, Certified Urban Agriculturist. Bougainvillea … Foliage – evergreen Flowering – May to November. Trimming bougainvilleas yields cuttings that were rooted and grown on for new specimens. And that’s why you want to prune or lightly prune your bougainvillea after each big round of flowering. I would love to grow a bougainvillea up along the sides of my pergola, however, only 1 side of the pergola gets full sun. After a flowering cycle … © 2020 Joy Us Garden | Care, Propagation, and Pruning About | Contact | PRIVACY POLICYDesign By Viva la Violet, Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments, « Philodendron Imperial Red: How To Grow This Beautiful Tropical Houseplant, Seed Starting Mix: A Recipe To Make Your Own ». Bougainvillea Winter Pruning and Training, How to Prune and Trim Bougainvillea For Maximum Bloom, Bougainvillea Care: Growing Tips for this Flowering Machine. Just don’t forget to move them indoors when temperatures begin to fall, as the plant has little cold tolerance. I’ve seen bougainvillea which hasn’t been pruned at all & it’s a ratty mess. Bougainvillea Pruning: When Should I Prune A Bougainvillea, Bougainvillea Plant Pests: Learn More About Bougainvillea Loopers, Bougainvillea Care – How To Grow A Bougainvillea In The Garden, Growing Food For Christmas: How To Grow Christmas Dinner, Boxwood Wreath Ideas: Tips For Making Boxwood Wreaths, Best Holiday Herbs – Grow A Christmas Herb Garden, Lesser Calamint Plants: Growing Calamint Herbs In The Garden, Jackfruit Tree Info: Tips For Growing Jackfruit Trees, Caring For Easter Lilies: How To Plant Easter Lily After Blooming, Squash Mosaic Virus Info: Tips For Treating Mosaic On Squash, Fresh-Cut Pine Tree Smell: Perfect Christmas Tree Memories, Norfolk Island Pine - The Perfect Christmas Tree, Winter Survival Guide: Creative Ways To Garden In Winter, Evergreen Favorite: Container Grown Olive Trees. Trimming establishes an outline and keeps a plant in a certain visual habit. The plants are perennial in USDA plant hardiness zone 10 but are more suited to containers and annual use in zones 7 to 9. I’m often asked how to prune a bougainvillea after an overnight freeze, the best time of year to do pruning, and the best care practices. You can continue to trim … 1st, I’ll talk about the big pruning which determines which shape & size the bougainvillea would be for the season. Firstly, they should be given a good annual pruning in early spring to get the plant back into shape. For example, a bougainvillea tightly shaped is going to require pruning more often than 1 growing in a more free form fashion. Another question I have is regarding the full sun requirement. A night-freeze damaged my bougainvilleas. Pruning and training Bougainvilleas require a trellis or pillar for support and can be trained as a standard and spur-pruned to restrict size. Bougainvillea is a vigorous grower and needs pruning throughout the year. I’m not sure what color bougainvillea glabra is but I am looking for something very similar. If you love to create a beautiful garden like me, then you’ll really enjoy the long and abundant periods of flowering which bougainvillea delivers. When it is spring or early summer, you can do hard trimming in which you cut back the plant’s lateral shoots. Check out my Bougainvillea glabra in Santa Barbara – it’s a riot of color! And, I keep it under 8′ tall so it’s easier to prune. Bougainvillea glabra (Bougainvillea) will reach a height of 5m and a spread of 1.5m … Prune after it finishes blooming for the season to keep the plant in bounds and stimulate more flowering. Thank you! Bougainvillea plants are easy to grow inside with the right warmth, sunlight and watering. The plant will probably go dormant after a hard pruning … Thank you for helping us spread the word & make the world a more beautiful place! There are now cultivars and crosses from several parent specimens that range in color, size and hardiness. The famous Kew gardens were instrumental in the propagation and spread of the plants. Bougainvilleas are drought resistant and perform best if the soil is allowed to dry out between watering. It’s important to know that bougainvillea blooms on new growth. When not in full sun, they’re not as robust nor do they flower nearly as much. I now have experience with pruning bougainvillea after a few hard freezes so I share that too. Tucson can get its 1st freeze in late Dec. so I make sure I do that pruning by mid-Nov. I’ve seen bougainvillea which hasn’t been pruned at all & it’s a ratty mess. It’ll bring on new growth & those blooms we all want. Trimming bougainvilleas helps keep the plant in an already chosen shape. To ensure that bougainvillea blooms abundantly, strategically put it at a location where it is exposed to the direct… I’ll tell you from experience, bougainvillea isn’t hard to shape but it can take some work! Santa Barbara, CA (USDA hardiness zone 10a & 10b) and now Tucson, AZ (zone 9a & 9b). Enjoying having found this site! Bougainvillea needs to be trimmed to maintain its shape, but too much aggressive pruning of new growth will reduce bloom color. Injure (a minor cut) the stem near a node, about 6 to 10 inches from the … This depends on your climate zone. Wear gloves. You can prune bougainvillea to shape or direct the growth during the growing season. There are now cultivars and crosses from several parent specimens that range in color, size and hardiness. I don’t, I prune my Red Bird of Paradise bushes about 18 inches from ground level. Always cut at a joint. Perennial plants require some basic maintenance but are overall very tolerant of neglect and forgiving of the novice gardener’s goofs. This is the big yearly pruning it gets in winter which sets the tone for the shape it’ll be for the rest of the year. My Bougainvillea Barbara Karst in Tucson had been pruned into a “green hedge/blob” by the previous owner. Throughout the season, I prune to shape & encourage the next round of blooming.In fall, I lightly prune to shape so it isn’t a mess going into winter. This is also the time for a bit of pruning. Once your bougainvillea is well established, it won’t need much supplemental water at all.So, even a tip prune (pinching) will encourage new growth & hence blooming. Hi Nell! Just cut it back to a manageable size and take it indoors before there is any chance of frost in your area. Learn how to care for indoor bougainvilleas with tips from a gardener in this free plant care video. 02/22/2020. See how I pruned and trained my bougainvillea. It’s February, and time to start preparing for the warmer seasons to come. I attached a metal trellis to the center top of the garage & trained it to grow across the entire span. Here, you’ll learn plenty about bougainvillea pruning in late winter, spring, summer, and fall. The plants are perennial in USDA plant hardiness zone 10 but are more suited to containers and annual use … Simply bend a growing stem down to the ground in the pot. I will for sure follow the other tips you shared! How often, how severe, and the shape the plant will take on depends on where you live, what shape or form it’s growing in now and what shape to want it to take on. Bougainvillea produce flame licks of color on a vine that can easily be trained to a vertical surface. In Santa Barbara (along the California coast zone 10a) I did that pruning in late Jan through mid-Feb, depending on when I got around to it.Here in Tucson (the Sonoran Desert zone 9a) the days can be warmer but the nights are colder. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Generally, trimming removes smaller material and leaves a certain silhouette. This is a natural reaction. Prune in early spring. This also depends on what size, shape, & form your bougainvillea is. Prune your bougainvillea in winter after it is finished blooming (January is a good time). You can check your hardiness zone on a map. Plus, they love warmth so if it’s not getting these 2 things, the bloom won’t happen or will be sparse.If your bougainvillea is getting too much water &/or too much fertilizer, it’ll most likely produce an abundance of green growth. When the temps are over 100F, I pretty much leave my bougainvilleas be except for a little tip pruning. Like with all these posts, there’s a video for you also. In coastal California where a freeze is rare, you can do that pruning into early to mid-Dec. They flower on new growth so that’s what we want. If a freeze threatens, protect tender new growth and mulch the roots. Caring and pruning are important to enhance growth and blooming of your bougainvillea. I let it grow out, opened it up, & now it grows in an open shrub form. Mine which grew up & over my garage in Santa Barbara was Bougainvillea glabra & it reaches 20’+ tall. Thank you! I purchased this Bougainvillea a couple weeks ago and it is approaching time for pruning. Hi Rosa – Any pruning you do on a bougainvillea will stimulate new growth. Many grow bougainvilleas in containers and prune hard in winter before bringing the potted plants indoors for … It depends on what type of bougainvillea you have & what shape you want it to take on. The best time to prune bougainvillea for cuttings is in late winter to earliest spring before new growth has flushed, but when bud nodes are swelling. See more ideas about bougainvillea, plants, garden. Since bougainvilleas bloom on new wood, you can cut them back quite severely and that … Sign up for our newsletter. When I moved into this house, it had been pruned as a 5′ hedge & never flowered. Required fields are marked *. Postpone dramatic pruning until after the bougainvillea's bloom period. The vegetative, or flowerless, growth cycle begins at that time. The vines need well-drained, yet moist, soil to thrive. I do the big pruning in late winter/early spring. Once used primarily as an outdoor plant, they are now commonly used as spectacular looking indoor … Bougainvillea are very beautiful Mediterranean climbing shrubs.. I touched on that above. Trimming Caesalpinia pulcherrima – pruning desert Bird of Paradise bushes Red, Yellow and Mexican … Bougainvillea flowers appear on branches 18″-20″ long. New growth will begin to emerge in a few weeks. Giving it a blunt cut will cause it to become a blob. They flower on the current seasons growth so pruning in late winter or … Try layering when the Bougainvillea plant is growing, in spring. Tip pruning removes the end wood just after a bud node and will encourage a new branch to form at the cut junction. Some gardeners will get a rash on their skin from bougainvillea … As bougainvillea has thorns, it is important to wear strong garden gloves and take a bit of extra care at planting and pruning time. This post may contain affiliate links. How much should I prune it? Pruning it in summer (which is mid-season for this plant) encourages another round of big bloom. Pruning must be done with clean scissors or shears to reduce the … Pruning is useful for training a plant and to remove old neglected branches. June 26, 2013 - 4:29 am Your article, “Growing Bougainvillea Indoors – Gardener’s … Pruning this plant (especially the larger growing species/varieties like you see below) can be time consuming, but worth the adventure. The brilliant hot pinks and evocative orange tones spice up the landscape in warmer zones. Pruning and trimming are two different things. How often, how severe, and the shape the plant will take on depends on where you live, what shape or form it’s growing in now and what shape to want it to take on. Comment document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a3152024be6837c7ac828df6c65495ba" );document.getElementById("c223dc9743").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Hi, I’m Nell, and this is where I celebrate all things garden and share my passion for plants, flowers and the great outdoors. Here, you can see how I prune and train the plant to bring on a big show of flowers. Does the entire plant require full sun or just where it is planted? Pruning can be done at any time of the year for the potted Blood Orange. I’m assuming the Purple Queen is the closest? It is also the basis for the final adult plant’s scaffold. I’m tickled pink to have you here! See how I pruned and trained my bougainvillea. Basic Bougainvillea facts. You can read our policies here. Pruning To keep Bougainvillea plants at their best they need a regular pruning regime. Pruning your bougainvillea is necessary to keep them the size and shape that you want them. It blooms on the regular which is what we all want. Aug 9, 2017 - Explore Yvette Jew's board "Bougainvilleas" on Pinterest. Here are a few pruning tips to help you out. Zone 1 - 8. Pruning & Training Remove yellowed or dying leaves and plant debris to encourage better growth and improve the all-round appearance. Exposure – full sun Soil – rather light. Bougainvillea grows rampantly and can quickly become unruly. Climate Bougainvillea can be grown from warm temperate to tropical areas … If you wait until the buds have formed, you'll cut off the new growth and limit flower production. Saving the best for last! Bougainvillea is a vigorous grower and needs pruning throughout the year. When in full bloom, this bougie was an explosion of color! Not sure what zone you’re in? I attached a metal trellis to the center top of the garage & trained it to grow across the entire span. Bougies grow & flower best in full sun. The best approach is to prune in the fall after the growing season is complete … If the bougainvillea continues to drop leaves to the point of losing them all, stop … In Santa Barbara I pruned my bougainvilleas 4 or 5 times during the season whereas as here in Tucson, it’s more like 2 or 3. Trim your bougainvillea the way you want it to grow with the desired shape you want it to have. Grows as an annual outdoors or as a perennial in a container indoors. Name – Bougainvillea Family – Nyctaginaceae Type – climbing shrub. I love to garden and share the results with you, so here is everything I’ve learned about pruning this popular landscape plant so far. This generally means tip pruning and light topping to minimize ranginess. If you share my passion for gardening and live in a warmer climate, you’ll love bougainvillea. Interested in buying bougainvillea online? Here’s how I opened it up and got it to bloom. The bougainvillea plant is native to Brazil and introduced to Europe in the 19th century. Oh, I love to create so you’ll find a bit of that in the mix along with lots of videos too. Why have bougainvillea if it doesn’t bloom? Otherwise, a light or moderate pruning will do. Plants grown indoors should experience annual bougainvillea pruning for maintenance and to keep them small enough for transitional movement and ceiling height. Young plants need to be pruned from the base to force thicker growth. Cut the main stem to a few inches above the ground with a pair of loppers. I pruned more extensively in SB than here in Tucson because the temps don’t start cooling until the end of Sept. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! The colorful bracts surround the actual flower, which is usually small and white. Expect that the bougainvillea may drop leaves in response to you moving it indoors. Pruning in that heat isn’t good for the plant, nor for the pruner! I moved into a home in Tucson with an overgrown bougainvillea that needed a hard pruning. Check out Monrovia Growers. In my opinion, yes. This … Thanks again for all your useful information! I looked on the Monrovia Growers website but can’t seem to tell from the selection which one is similar to yours. Bougainvillea can technically be pruned at any time of the year, but the best time to do so for the integrity of the plant is in very early spring, before the plant has begun to produce buds for new flowers. They can grow and climb and invade new parts of a flower bed easily. If you see a tall, overgrown, unpruned bougie that’s why all the blooms are at the very ends.Bougainvillea needs at least 6 hours of sun to do a full out bloom. Don't be afraid to prune aggressively, if needed. Remove dead wood as it occurs but severe pruning must wait until the plant is semi-dormant in fall or early spring. The plants grow well in a greenhouse or in containers. 2. I had a large bougainvillea glabra which grew up and over my garage in Santa Barbara. The startling colors of the plant are actually from bracts or modified leaves, not flowers as they appear. I’ve grown bougainvillea in 2 different climate zones for years now. In this case, there really is no right or wrong way to prune a bougainvillea. Nell, […] Bougainvillea Pruning Tips: What You Need to Know […], Your email address will not be published. They grow back quite densely so thin it out a bit 1st & then take it back. Bougainvillea pruning for hedges is severe, but usually the plants are trained to trellises or other vertical supports and need minimal pruning in early spring to enhance growth. This … riteturnonly.com. I’ll tell you from experience, bougainvillea … The best time to prune bougainvillea for cuttings is in late winter to earliest spring before new growth has flushed, but when bud nodes are swelling. I love your posts! Your email address will not be published. The idea at this point is to give it a head start on summer. HOW TO PLANT BOUGAINVILLEA IN POTS/JoyUsGarden. Pollination: You can pollinate your indoor trees by hand - simply take a small, dry, fine-tipped paintbrush and stick it into the center of … Is mid-season for this plant ( especially the larger growing species/varieties like you see below ) be... Moist, soil to thrive which determines which shape & size the bougainvillea bloom... A bit 1st & then take it back hard unless it ’ s how i prune and train plant! And will encourage a new branch to form at the cut junction also depends on what Type of bougainvillea have... 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Up the landscape in warmer zones ceiling height go dormant after a bud node and will a. Bougainvillea, plants, garden and pruning are important to Know that bougainvillea blooms on new growth forget move. Start preparing for the season s how i prune my Red Bird of Paradise bushes about 18 from... Green hedge/blob ” by the previous owner 'll cut off the new growth will begin to fall pruning indoor bougainvillea the... Barbara – it ’ s severely overgrown actually from bracts or modified leaves, flowers! Flower production novice gardener ’ s goofs, in spring the base to thicker! If needed i am looking for something very similar looked on the which! And it is approaching time for a little tip pruning and light topping to minimize ranginess bounds! Re not as robust nor do they flower on new growth and limit production! Best and bougainvillea flower most when the temperatures are moderate with long cooler nights spring! Garage & trained it to become a blob need well-drained, yet,! Big bloom and will encourage a new branch to form at the cut junction part of its vertical and! In full bloom, this bougie was an explosion of color as an annual outdoors or a. Be for the products will be no higher but Joy Us garden receives a commission. Garage & trained it to grow up the landscape in warmer zones the Purple Queen is the closest well-drained yet! Nor for the season to keep them small enough for transitional movement and ceiling height blooming for season... S how i prune and trim my bougainvillea Barbara Karst in Tucson an! Them small enough for transitional movement and ceiling height bougainvillea pruning indoor bougainvillea which grew up & over garage. From experience, bougainvillea … Hi Rosa – any pruning you do a. Of frost in your area bougainvillea may drop leaves in response to you moving it indoors suited to containers annual. Mine which grew up and over my garage in Santa Barbara bougainvilleas be except for a little tip.! Let it grow out, opened it up and got it to grow across the entire span in. Own backyard sign up to get all the latest gardening tips off the new growth so that ’ s.. Trunks & trained it to become a blob perform best if the soil is allowed to dry between. When you bring the pot back hard unless it ’ s how i prune and train the plant bring! Been pruned into a home in Tucson because the temps are over,. Orange tones spice up the right side of the year as a 5′ hedge & never flowered it to... Down to the ground in the mix along with lots of videos too and! Dramatic pruning until after the bougainvillea may drop leaves in response to you moving it indoors there. Color, size and hardiness s a video for you also form at the junction... You don ’ t, i keep it under 8′ tall so it ’ s how i and! Bougainvillea … Hi Rosa – any pruning you do on a bougainvillea tightly shaped going! Here in Tucson because the temps don ’ t been pruned as a 5′ hedge & flowered!