How to Prune and Trim Bougainvillea for Maximum Bloom
Here’s how I prune and trim my bougainvillea for maximum bloom.
My Bougainvillea glabra is a flowering machine. It puts out a big show of magenta/purplish color off and on for 9 or 10 months out of the year. This bougainvillea grows up and over my garage which sits at the end of a long, narrow driveway. It gets a major “WOW” from anyone who sees it.
The pruning that I do in January is the big one that sets the shape that my bougainvillea will be for the rest of the year. I usually prune it all in 1 fell swoop, which takes about 5 hours.
But this year I didn’t start the pruning until the end of February, and because I was doing it in dribbles, I just finished it up this past weekend. By the time I finished the pruning, it was already flowering away like crazy!
Here’s how I prune my bougainvillea for maximum bloom:
The video is full of info but here’s a break down of what I do:
How to Prune and Trim Bougainvillea
First of all, I make sure my pruners are clean & sharp. For this job, I’ll use my Felco #2‘s, Fiskars Floral Snips & my Corona Long Reach Loppers. Oh, I use a 6′ step ladder too.
Thin out the plant by removing whole branches right back to the main trunk. When it’s semi-deciduous in January, it may seem like you’re removing a lot, but believe me, it grows back like crazy. I prune a lot away from the outside of the plant so I can get to the inside.
Remove half of the undergrowth which has gotten shaded & “wimpy”.
Remove the water shoots. These do nothing for the plant at all.
Shape it to how I want it to look. It goes up 1 side of the garage & then all the way across. I took an old metal trellis which was on the back of the house & had it attached to the middle of the garage just above the overhead door. Bougainvillea does not attach itself (unlike jasmine, trumpet vine, morning glory, etc) so I had to train & attach it.
Most of the branches that remain I take back by a half or tip prune, depending on their length. This is what brings the denseness of color to my bougie. You see, bougainvilleas bloom on new growth so the more you tip them, the more color you’ll get. Tip pruning, in case you don’t know, is the removal of the soft new growth by 1-6″. You can even do this with your fingernails if it’s easier.
I’ll do four additional lighter prunings throughout the warm season, ending in early December. My bougainvillea is a riot of color and yours can be too. Just remember, tip pruning (you’ll see the technique in the video) is one of the keys to this dense show of flowers. It’s my own floral fiesta!
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
- Things You Need To Know About Bougainvillea Plant Care
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- Bougainvillea Winter Care Tips
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
Hi! We’re in Los Angeles, and my landlord’s gardener just cut our bougainvillea bush back about 2 feet in all directions, so it’s just an 8′ diameter ball of bare branches and twigs. How long do you think it will be before it starts producing new growth and leaves? Thanks!
Hi Pixie – Oh dear, the gardener should have thinned it out too. Bougainvillea grows fastest when the temps warm & the sun gets strong. You should see new growth appearing very soon, depending on the temps. Plus, you’ve had a nice amount of rain in SoCal this year. Nell
Thanks a lot for this! So inspiring to see this beautiful Bougainvillea in bloom.
Question: thinning out the plant by removing whole branches, does that mean that new shoots will come off of the main branch later on? I usually think out branches but leave a node or two on that branch so new growth can sprout from there.
Hi Abdulla – You’re very welcome! I start by thinning out the woody branches. When the new, soft growth appears I sometimes tip prune a bit of that to control the growth. And yes, you want that new growth to sprout because that’s where the flowering comes from. The bougainvilleas at my new home are all starting to flower so I’ll be doing a post & video on them in the next month or 2. Nell
Hi Nell, your bougainvillea is GORGEOUS! I purchased a couple of bougainvillea flowers from a local nursery. They are attached to a trellis and planted in 6 inch pots. I really want them to thrive. I live in Ohio and we can have some cold winters. I would like to go ahead and put them in pots. What size pot should I choose? I plan to bring them in the garage or inside during the winter. I hope they survive because they are beautiful and hard to find in my area.
Oh thank you Allison! I’ve since sold that house & moved to a different state so I hope the new owner is keeping up with it. Bougainvilleas don’t like to be transplanted (read a recent post: https://www.joyusgarden.com/how-to-plant-bougainvillea-to-grow-successfully-the-most-important-thing-to-know/). 6″ plants are small so to plant it in a 28″ pot would look out of scale. You could go with a 12″- 16″ pot & then just sink that pot in a new pot if you ever have to go larger. Nell
I inherited bougainvillea at my husbands house. I didn’t know what it was and kept cutting it back to it’s trunk (approximately 10 inches in diameter). We recently installed a fence with lattice and I’d like to grow it out and train it through the lattice. But I am not sure what to do to encourage it now that I have been cutting it back so much!
Should I water it?
Leave it alone?
Thanks,
Kindra
Hi – Bougainvilleas, once they’re that established, rarely need supplemental irrigation. They prefer infrequent, deep waterings rather than shallow, frequent ones. Let it get going (you’ll see it put out a lot of growth once the weather starts to warm) & then start to train it. Nell
Hi, my buganvillea are 5 months old planted on the ground. When do I fertilize or prune them. Thank you Sandra
Hi Sandra – I never fertilize any of my bougainvilleas. I compost them in late winter/early spring. As to pruning, I do it 3 times a year with the heaviest 1 in mid-winter. Nell