Bougainvillea - looking for styling advice

[akhater]

Here is a bougie I have repotted last year and I am submitting it here for styling ideas.

I am wishing to do something rather small of it and I could really use some advice

Here are the 4 faces as it looks today

 

[JudyB]

I don't know much about bougies, but it looks to me like the branching you have is far too heavy for the tree, you'll need to do some big cutting back. I like the 4th aspect the best, but you might want to go with the best base/nebari side, I can't tell what that looks like.
I'd be more helpful, but I've never had one...
J

 

[akhater]

THank Judy, I don't mind cutting back all the way if I must, you suggest I go back to the stem with the 4th picture side as a front ?

 

[JudyB]

You should wait till someone with bougie skills answers you on that one, I don't know what their response is to hard pruning. I do like 4 as the front, seems to have good movement, but if you do go back to the main trunk with chops, you'll wind up losing most of that movement to the chops. Maybe someone with experience can help more.
G-luck!

 

[akhater]

I am not worried at all about how it will react to hard pruning, I know bougies well enough and it will just back bud like crazy

However, like you just said, I am more concerned about cutting something now and not being able to undo it later on. I do hope someone will propose something related to styling

 

[akhater]

OK I did 2 quick stuff, what do you think works better for main line of the trunk ?

For this one


I was basing myself on this for model



Or this works better ?

 

[Jason]

I like your first version.

 

[JudyB]

I'm with Jason, but I think I'd keep a small part of the right branch, not the middle branch. If you can get a sacrifice branch to fatten the lower trunk, you'd be better off in the long run. I'll bet boug. can be approach grafted easily, if you can't get a branch to pop low for you. That to me is the biggest drawback of this tree, the fact that the lower trunk is so much the same size if not smaller than the branching. I think your chops are pretty well placed.

 

[akhater]

thank you both
Judy when you say right branch you are talkiing with respect to the image now considered as face right ? this branch would serve as sacrifice branch if no other pops up ?

 

[akhater]

Oki here is what I did today



As you can see I removed the middle branch and left the right one.

I didn't dare to get closer because I have no idea how to do it without leave a huge scar that will never heal, so I you have any suggestions on how to do this please let me know

 

[daygan]

I'm not sure about how well bougainvillea heal, but Harry Harrington says that you should

Trim back long extension growth continually to keep compact, hard prune in early Spring. Bougainvillea are very susceptible to rot and all cuts should be sealed with cut paste.

so I would say maybe seal that with cut paste. I would think you could cut it closer to the trunk, but I haven't worked with bougainvillea, so I don't want to steer you in any wrong directions..

 

[stacy allen muse]

With bougies as with a lot of tropicals, they do not heal over in the way you are hoping for...
So to asnswer your question, yes you are going to have a scar that is best dealt with by carving a uro.
Wouldn't bother with cut paste, or wound sealer, I have found it doesn't work.

I would cut flush, then carve away...
As far as the rest of your branches I would leave them like they are for now and see what grows and where.
At a later time your large remaining nub branches will have to be probally carved to give some taper into your future branches .

 

[akhater]

I felt I was going nowhere with this one specially with the straight trunk and no taper so, this spring, I cut it back hard (maybe too hard?) this was on April 11th.

well today I can see the first bud developing

 

[october]

Wow, bold move.. I think there were possibilites with the old trunk. However, no use dwelling on that now. Maybe a more angular cut might have been better. However, since you are takign this tree back to square one, I guess it doesn't matter. This is now a perfect cadidate for the clip and grow method for building a trunk. However, that is a minimum of about 7 years..and that would just be to get the trunk line formed with some branches. Well, I know that you are going to have to go through at least one clip and grow phase. What you do after that will probably be revealed to you as the tree grows.

Rob

 

[akhater]

Thanks Rob

That's lack of experience I guess I saw the tree without taper or movement and thought it was better to start from scratch (I've had it for 5 years )

Regarding the angular cut I thought the idea was to start with a straight cut and then convert it to an angular one depending on where the buds shows, did I get this one wrong too ?

 

[october]

No, not necessarilly. In certain cases, I believe you might be correct about further reducing after you see bud placement. However, my thinking with this is that this tree is so small and has been reduced so much, how much more could actually be reduced. I think if this was a large tree, that was just collected or from large nursery stock, then your thinking would be correct. In this case, you are probably going to have to grow a whole new tree. A tree that it is much taller (well, much taller from what it is now). Of course, it's always good to get other opinions..

*edit* I just went back to look at the picture again. I noticed you chopped before the buds popped, then a straight cut was probably a good idea. If had there been a bud already there, an angular cut might have been better.

Rob

 

[akhater]

what is done is done, I'll learn to ask before touching the saw

hope you guys will stay around for more advise and help

Cheers

 

[A Random User]

what is done is done, I'll learn to ask before touching the saw

hope you guys will stay around for more advise and help

Cheers

You are ok... besides it's not the end of the world.
Bougies can be cut extremely hard and what you cut
off, could of easily been rooted with damp sphagnum moss,
or in a pot of coarse sand. So, next time keep those cuttings
and make more.

As far as your tree... let it just grow for now, which ever way
and how ever it wants to go, for the rest of the year. The really
go thing is that you live in a place where you should get some
substantial growth in a relatively short amount of time. So, just
let it go !!!

I wouldn't worry about angle cuts. I would just plan on a possible
angling of your trunk.

 

[akhater]

The really
go thing is that you live in a place where you should get some
substantial growth in a relatively short amount of time

Just to point on this, I have another bougie in the garden I have planted last year and it was pencil thick. Today it is about 4 inch thick !!! really crazy


thanks for the help

 

[A Random User]

Our weather here allows the same...