About a month ago Sam and I decided that we needed to "rearrange" the yard. By rearrange, I mean move the two bougainvilleas from the shaded area right next to the fence to the new "color panels" that are behind the pool. So we trimmed them both lightly, tied them up carefully (getting thorned and scratched terribly).
As they were moved, the first one that was transplanted had very little finger roots, but just one long tap root that was unfortunately severed during our relocation. The second was a larger shrub that had plenty, I mean PLENTY of roots that outstretched about 10 feet in diameter. Needless to say, we were thankful for our Florida sand again. Both of the bougainvilleas were transplanted with plenty of compost soil and fertilizer to minimize the transplant.
The second lost a lot of leaves, but with daily watering, bounced back after a few days and had plenty of new growth within a week. The first one however, lost every leaf, was watered daily and about three weeks later, nothing... I expected that it was just dead.
Thinking the worst, I decided it was time to start the process of removing the dead tree. I pruned shrub back to about 2 feet tall and we burned the cuttings (The thorns on these bougainvilleas were like daggers!). And lo and behind, what happens?! A week later after cutting it back and stopping the water to a "dead" plant, shoots of green emerged from the twigs! I even planted other vines behind it!
Sam and I are very happy to see that the Shrimp colored bougainvillea survived the transplant, but now I have to find another location for the purple trumpet vines.
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