Bougainvillea Yamadori - water/fert ahead of time?

[cbrshadow23]

A neighbor is making changes to their yard and need a bougainvillea removed. It's 30+ years old (she's been there for 30 years and it was mature when she moved in). She needs it removed before Thursday of this coming week, so that gives me a few days to plan. I'm experienced with removing Bougainvillea as I've done it 4 times previously. My question is on the topic of watering or fertilizing before collecting. She said "I never water it" which is common in my area since very established/mature bougies don't mind being dry. Since I have a few days before I need to go collect it, I'm wondering if the health of the plant would benefit from being watered heavily or fertilized heavily today or tomorrow, 3-4 days before collecting. I understand that ideally I could water and fertilize it a couple weeks before collecting, but that's not possible this time. I'm confident the plant will live after collecting, but I'd like it to bounce back quickly if possible.
Worth watering/fertilizing now, or no?

 

[Firstflush]

You will boost its health and prep it for removal if you feed and deep water ahead of time. I wouldn’t get crazy with fertilizer because most bougies are used to neglect in CA. Maybe run the hose for a few hours on a very low flow rate.

 

[OTown]

It's not going to matter all that much. The roots can be cut back hard with little ill effect.

I have several bougainvillea yardmadori and have good success going in bark and perlite for the first 2 years. Then I go into inorganic mix of lava and pumice.

Keep it moist not too wet and you should be good.