Help with Bougainvillea query

[crustyjojo]

Hi - new to this forum, so hope I am in the correct subject field.

I have just taken on the management of the development where I live in the Caribbean. We are having some issues between homeowners and the landscapers regarding the bougainvillea we have that are not being looked after properly. I am no expert and would appreciate expert guidance on care of them.

The specific problem is where the bougainvillea appears half dead on one side. The landscaper is telling me that this is not dead just dormant and is protecting the rest of the plant. The homeowners want them removed and new ones put in as they are unsightly. I can post pics if that helps.

 

[Chuck]

Pictures would certainly help. IMO you have a bunch of lazy landscapers who don't have a clue. Half a plant going dormant? Don't think so. I think what the problem is besides being lazy and ignorant is that they don't want to mess around getting scratched by thorns.
Prune all of the dead and sick looking limbs severely, run off the "landscapers" and either do the work yourselves or contract some people who know what they are doing

 

[crustyjojo]

Hi Chuck….thanks for your quick reply. I have uploaded some examples for you so you can see what i am talking about. I have received complaints that basically they are not trimmed or pruned correctly. Also they are let to grow as you should see in the pic 837, and then heavily hacked back - not generally trimmed and kept on top of as people expect. Would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Chuck]

Wow, no wonder those so called "landscapers" said what they did. These plants (trees) have never been maintained correctly and it will take a lot of time and work to bring them back especially the one in the first picture as it looks to have something wrong with it. A lot of dead leaves and even the live leaves don't look good. But all in all IMO things are salvageable. Mainly they just need to be severely pruned. Remove all dead limbs first and then selectively trim the tops. But the first thing you need to do is fire the hack, stack and whack plant butchers and find someone who knows what he is doing

 

[Beverly]

Here in Mexico, the most beautiful bougainvillea plants are the ones that are neglected...left to their own devices so to speak. They require very little water (if grown in soil vs containers) beyond what Mother Nature provides for them during rainy seasons. I am frequently admiring vibrant and bloom laden bougainvilleas growing on neglected properties for their exuberance and spectacular blooms. Certainly from time to time, the leaf-cutter ants will strip a boug clean of vegetation, but they always seem to rebound. I can't grow bougainvillea in my garden, for example, because i am too nurturing with water and fertilizer and "neglect" appears to be just too hard for me. It might be interesting for you to take a look around at some neglected and/or undeveloped places to see if there are bougs growing wild there and how they are fairing. Bougainvilleas are frequently grown in highway meridians here because of the low maintenance. Some jokers up in Guadalajara decided they would fancy the place up by removing the bougs from the road meridians and planting roses and ended up with high maintenance half dead roses rather than spectacular bougs. The answer to the question "what were they thinking?" is so frequently "apparently they were not thinking at all". I would also talk to people who maintain resort facility gardens and chat with them about how they care for the bougs.

 

[crustyjojo]

Here in Mexico, the most beautiful bougainvillea plants are the ones that are neglected...left to their own devices so to speak. They require very little water (if grown in soil vs containers) beyond what Mother Nature provides for them during rainy seasons. I am frequently admiring vibrant and bloom laden bougainvilleas growing on neglected properties for their exuberance and spectacular blooms. Certainly from time to time, the leaf-cutter ants will strip a boug clean of vegetation, but they always seem to rebound. I can't grow bougainvillea in my garden, for example, because i am too nurturing with water and fertilizer and "neglect" appears to be just too hard for me. It might be interesting for you to take a look around at some neglected and/or undeveloped places to see if there are bougs growing wild there and how they are fairing. Bougainvilleas are frequently grown in highway meridians here because of the low maintenance. Some jokers up in Guadalajara decided they would fancy the place up by removing the bougs from the road meridians and planting roses and ended up with high maintenance half dead roses rather than spectacular bougs. The answer to the question "what were they thinking?" is so frequently "apparently they were not thinking at all". I would also talk to people who maintain resort facility gardens and chat with them about how they care for the bougs.

Hi Beverley…thanks for your reply. I understand about them being at their best unattended, and also am aware that they are very drought tolerant. On a villa development though, they cannot be allowed to grow freely and run wild so to speak. The gardeners do not water them (we are on restrictions for garden watering actually due to drought) and do not fertilze.

To give you a better understanding, we are having issues on pruning of all shrubs and plantings. They are left to grow for weeks and then hacked back. The other owners are frustrated as this affects the Bougainvilleas most. Basically, I am trying to get to the bottom of how they should be attended to and whether I am being given BS by the landscapers. As Chuck said, he feels they are being lazy and that is also the opinion of many. I just need to know the correct way of keeping them in trim so I can give directions to the contractor accordingly.

Great idea on speaking with resort operators….and I'll try to follow up on that.

 

[DeborahJane]

Here in Mexico, the most beautiful bougainvillea plants are the ones that are neglected...left to their own devices so to speak. They require very little water (if grown in soil vs containers) beyond what Mother Nature provides for them during rainy seasons. I am frequently admiring vibrant and bloom laden bougainvilleas growing on neglected properties for their exuberance and spectacular blooms. Certainly from time to time, the leaf-cutter ants will strip a boug clean of vegetation, but they always seem to rebound. I can't grow bougainvillea in my garden, for example, because i am too nurturing with water and fertilizer and "neglect" appears to be just too hard for me. It might be interesting for you to take a look around at some neglected and/or undeveloped places to see if there are bougs growing wild there and how they are fairing. Bougainvilleas are frequently grown in highway meridians here because of the low maintenance. Some jokers up in Guadalajara decided they would fancy the place up by removing the bougs from the road meridians and planting roses and ended up with high maintenance half dead roses rather than spectacular bougs. The answer to the question "what were they thinking?" is so frequently "apparently they were not thinking at all". I would also talk to people who maintain resort facility gardens and chat with them about how they care for the bougs.

I agree Beverley...definitely not thinking!!! I really like roses but I find them fairly high maintenance....probably due to my lack of expertise but a spectacular bougainvillea in full bloom would be stunning. I tried growing one once when I first started gardening, back when I planted according to colour or shape or whatever I was thinking at the time or just maybe "not thinking". Needless to say it didn't survive.

 

[Beverly]

You might try again @DeborahJane. Put it in some poor soil, if you can find some and after the roots have taken hold just neglect it. They provide great protection too with all those stickers. The most difficult part is deciding on the colors, there are so many magnificent ones. Were you and your team able to track down the Plumbago you wanted off topic, just a tiny one...don't tell anybody.

@everbody I might just mention that it appears the members have changed my name. My name is Beverly. It is right there in my profile. Do you all think i misspelled my own name? Beverly with 2 e's is a female name, and Beverley (with 3 e's) is a male's name. I am female so i only have 2 e's. When you give me 3 e's in my name, that changes me to a male which is somewhat distressing, not to mention confusing. Thank you for your indulgence

 

[crustyjojo]

You might try again @DeborahJane. Put it in some poor soil, if you can find some and after the roots have taken hold just neglect it. They provide great protection too with all those stickers. The most difficult part is deciding on the colors, there are so many magnificent ones. Were you and your team able to track down the Plumbago you wanted off topic, just a tiny one...don't tell anybody.

@everbody I might just mention that it appears the members have changed my name. My name is Beverly. It is right there in my profile. Do you all think i misspelled my own name? Beverly with 2 e's is a female name, and Beverley (with 3 e's) is a male's name. I am female so i only have 2 e's. When you give me 3 e's in my name, that changes me to a male which is somewhat distressing, not to mention confusing. Thank you for your indulgence

Hi Beverly

Thanks for the point out on the name misspell - apologies for not paying attention. I get Joe all the time when I am Jo (female version). Just as an aside though, Beverly can be spelt either way. In the UK it is with 3 E's - I have a cousin who is Beverley. I have learnt that in the global world of the internet and forums, there are many variations of spelling (and pronouncing) names, and it makes life a lot easier if you just accept that (as irritating as it may be).