Awkward bougainvillea re-pot

[Lou T]

Spring is upon us here in Florida so I decided to redesign one of my bougainvilleas. I collected it from the landscape two years ago and it looked like this before today (with more foliage):
I didn’t like all the commotion going on up top, too cluttered I thought. Didn’t want to bother with a graft mid-trunk to create pads in the middle because there’s no taper there anyway. So I chopped it back to here:

I sourced this decent looking cutting as a bonus:

From here I knew there was quite a bit of girth to the initial cutting underneath so I wanted to raise that up. I also wanted to do something with the extended root tissue extending off to the right. So I bare-rooted the tree to see exactly what was going on:

Dang, pretty weird. After two years not much going on but still decently healthy looking. I wanted to keep that natural uro while taking advantage of the curve in the trunk while also looking to the future to train that one branch as a new leader. So, why not rotate it. Ended up with this:

I plan on wiring that branch to the left over the “arch”. Going to wait and see what happens to that exposed taproot. Overall, I think the tree looks way more interesting. Let me know what you all think.

 

[leatherback]

Wow. That would kill it if I did that here.
I am a little sad you cut it back

 

[Lou T]

Wow. That would kill it if I did that here.
I am a little sad you cut it back

Haha yeah I hear ya. I’m working on not becoming emotionally attached to my trees. It’s not so bad as I have a lot of plants and these bougainvillea are everywhere. I still have this one from the same collection date a couple years back:

 

[Cadillactaste]

I actually like this new direction...I tend to sway to the unusual quirky in a piece. The trunk looks like a raft in the making.

 

[Lou T]

I actually like this new direction...I tend to sway to the unusual quirky in a piece. The trunk looks like a raft in the making.

I’m happy you like it! I like the raft idea, hopefully I can get some buds to break along the ridge there. Its not traditional by any means but I’m happy the tree has some direction now.

Edit: Looking at it again, I could probably shoot some thread-grafts up from behind if I don’t get any buds.

 

[Lou T]

Update on this tree:

 

[BubblePopScott]

Wow, will it survive? I understood they don't tolerate such drastic root disturbance? I'm not being critical, just wanting to learn (i know nothing). Keen to see how this one progresses.

 

[Lou T]

Wow, will it survive? I understood they don't tolerate such drastic root disturbance? I'm not being critical, just wanting to learn (i know nothing). Keen to see how this one progresses.

My friend it has already transcended the trials of transplant. It has been 2 months since this work was done and it’s pushing strong vegetative growth. This species is extremely hardy as a stump with no roots can be grown as a cutting. I will certainly continue to update.