Question
I am in Florida. We have a Bouganville in front of our living room window. The bush is on the eastern side of the house. Last year it was tall, thick, and lots of flowers. My Mom cut it ALL the way down!! It was just a bare piece of wood in the ground. Plus we had 3 freeze! It looks like it is starting to come back, a little.

Are you supposed to cut it all the way down to below 6 inches in the late fall?

Next fall Mom wants me to move it to another area! Will it survive been uprooted and relocated?

Only the tallest branch has any new leaves with brachs. But no purple flowers. What should I use to fertilize?

Thank You for your help. Jill

Answer
Hi Jill, Your mom actually did a good thing, pruning back a Boug is a good way to stimulate new, healthy growth, while keeping it in check also; I fear she may have cut it back too much however, for when I say prune it back, I mean to about a 2-3 foot specimen, not down to a nub! That said however, if you are seeing new growth, then it is still viable, and should begin to really fill out, now that we are in the rainy season. I would not try to relocate it in the Fall, that is not the proper time, Spring would be the time to do that, but if you need to attempt it, then just make sure you get the entire root system and get it into its new location as quickly as possible, so as to limit the transplant shock, (which it will assuredly exhibit..); once you do plant it in its new location, water it frequently until new growth emerges, then you can back off. Nick