Bougainvillea Trunk Chop Advice

[turnyface]

Found this at my local nursery for $45! Trunk is about 1.5” - 2” thick. Would appreciate any advice on where I should trunk chop and whether is safe to do in the heat of summer.

Also, will the chopped branches survive if I put them in some bonsai soil to grow roots or do these need to be air layered?

 

[OTown]

If you didn't know already, bougainvillea do not heal well. It is likely, that the wound will rot out rather than heal over unless you can get this thing to grow very vigorously.

From what I can see, I would take out the straight branch in the middle. That serves two purposes. It gets the straight uninteresting branch out and gives you a better chance at healing the wound with two big branches on either side of the cut.