Digging up a huge Bougainvillea

[cbrshadow23]

I've been looking for a nice big/old Bougainvillea to dig up for my next bonsai project. Finally I found a huge one that is over 50 years old but is creeping toward the owner's pool and they are sick of the thorns.
I'd like some advice for removing it and how to treat it once I dig it out. Attached are some pictures of the base of the plant.

1) The plant has a huge spread, so it will require lots of cutting. How tall should I make the main trunk?
2) There will likely be lots of thick branches without roots/leaves that will be leftover. Should I save these and try to root them as large cuttings? I'd love to if it's fairly likely that they'll become plants.
3) What tips would you give me for digging it out?
4) What tools should I bring? I'm thinking a shovel, a hand saw, some hand trimmers and my reciprocating saw (battery powered)/Sawzall. Along with thick gloves and sleeves to deal with the thorns.
5) What treatment does the trunk require once I get home? I assume partial sun, wide and shallow pot, well-draining soil, water every few days?
6) Based on the pictures below, is this a good candidate for bonsai?

This plant will require a 4 hour drive in each direction, so will basically take a full day to retrieve. Does the likelihood of the main plant living

seem high enough to justify the day?

For reference I live in Northern California where the current weather is sunny, mid 70's during the day and 55 at night.

 

[bonhe]

Congrats!
1- I would cut all the trunk down to about 2.5 feet
2- I would save a few for large cutting. Bougainvillea is so easy to be propagated via cutting . Just remember to use the large clear plastic to cover these.
3- I would clear everything first before I started working on the root.. I would bring a few big plastic bags to put the root ends of tree and cutting inside to reserve the moisture.
4- these tools are more than enough . You will need a lot of root cutting because with this size of the tree, it would have a lot of big wooden roots to be cut. I would also bring the water spray bottle to spray the root .
5- post care is very important to keep it survive. I would have the pot and soil were ready. I would use pumice : mini pine bark ( orchid seedling mini barks) with 1:1 ratio - my favorite mix for cutting or new dig !. If you decide to put it in the shallow pot, please make sure to secure the tree well in the pot ( to prevent the tree from movement which can injury the new roots). I would place the pot in the shady place and water it well. Then I would use the large clear plastic bag to cover the whole tree and pot- it is my favorite method to care for the small or large cuttings. In the next day, you should see water condensation inside the bag. I would water the soil when. The amount of water condensation is less . I would keep it as is until the young new shoots about 20 cm in length. At that time , I would slowly remove the plastic bag in a few days. During this period, it the young shoots show sign of dehydration, I would cover is back with plastic bag again and retry it later. No fertilizer until the young shoot become stiffness. I would move the pot to morning sun at first, then gradually let it get more sunshine
6- I see this tree as a high potential for a nice bonsai

I think it is worth to take one day to get it
Good luck to you
Thụ Thoại
P/s: you might have to bring safety goggles to protect your eyes when you are pruning the branches .

 

[cbrshadow23]

Congrats!
1- I would cut all the trunk down to about 2.5 feet
2- I would save a few for large cutting. Bougainvillea is so easy to be propagated via cutting . Just remember to use the large clear plastic to cover these.
3- I would clear everything first before I started working on the root.. I would bring a few big plastic bags to put the root ends of tree and cutting inside to reserve the moisture.
4- these tools are more than enough . You will need a lot of root cutting because with this size of the tree, it would have a lot of big wooden roots to be cut. I would also bring the water spray bottle to spray the root .
5- post care is very important to keep it survive. I would have the pot and soil were ready. I would use pumice : mini pine bark ( orchid seedling mini barks) with 1:1 ratio - my favorite mix for cutting or new dig !. If you decide to put it in the shallow pot, please make sure to secure the tree well in the pot ( to prevent the tree from movement which can injury the new roots). I would place the pot in the shady place and water it well. Then I would use the large clear plastic bag to cover the whole tree and pot- it is my favorite method to care for the small or large cuttings. In the next day, you should see water condensation inside the bag. I would water the soil when. The amount of water condensation is less . I would keep it as is until the young new shoots about 20 cm in length. At that time , I would slowly remove the plastic bag in a few days. During this period, it the young shoots show sign of dehydration, I would cover is back with plastic bag again and retry it later. No fertilizer until the young shoot become stiffness. I would move the pot to morning sun at first, then gradually let it get more sunshine
6- I see this tree as a high potential for a nice bonsai

I think it is worth to take one day to get it
Good luck to you
Thụ Thoại
P/s: you might have to bring safety goggles to protect your eyes when you are pruning the branches .

Thank you so much for all of the advice!
Is it likely that the trunk widens below the ground more than what we can see in the picture?
How wide should I follow the roots before cutting them?
In my area the nights get down to 52-56 degrees - will that be an issue?
I'll definitely follow your advice on the plastic coverings. Do you have any suggestions for the type of bag/plastic I should use, or where to get it? I'll run to Home Depot and see what they have.

 

[AZbonsai]

I would listen to @bonhe

 

[bonhe]

Thank you so much for all of the advice!
Is it likely that the trunk widens below the ground more than what we can see in the picture?
How wide should I follow the roots before cutting them?
In my area the nights get down to 52-56 degrees - will that be an issue?
I'll definitely follow your advice on the plastic coverings. Do you have any suggestions for the type of bag/plastic I should use, or where to get it? I'll run to Home Depot and see what they have.

You are welcome
The trunk maybe gets wider beneath the soil line.
About the size of trunk diameter .
That temperature is fine
I got plastic bag from furniture store. They may give you free or just offer some money. Home Depot’s one is fine . Its thickness is about 3 mm
Thụ Thoại

 

[bonhe]

I would listen to @bonhe

Thanks AZbonsai
Thụ Thoại

 

[cbrshadow23]

You are welcome
The trunk maybe gets wider beneath the soil line.
About the size of trunk diameter .
That temperature is fine
I got plastic bag from furniture store. They may give you free or just offer some money. Home Depot’s one is fine . Its thickness is about 3 mm
Thụ Thoại

Is there any benefit to using rooting hormone on the large branch cuttings?
I've seen where people cut a 45 degree cut out of the bottom of each branch cutting to promote root growth - is that a good idea?
This has been super helpful so far thanks so much

 

[bonhe]

"cbrshadow23,
Is there any benefit to using rooting hormone on the large branch cuttings?
You are very welcome.
Yes, I think so. With the big cutting ( > 10 cm diameter), I always soaked the branch end into the water mixed with rooting hormone for 12- 24 hours

I've seen where people cut a 45 degree cut out of the bottom of each branch cutting to promote root growth - is that a good idea?
Yes, it is, but you have to make sure the surface of the cutting area be parallel to the pot's bottom surface, otherwise you may have only root appear in the lower part of the cut surface.
With the big cutting, I just make a horizontal cut (90 degree with the branch axis) to keep the cutting more stable in the pot and to have the roots come out equally around the cut surface.
Hope it will help.
Thụ Thoại

 

[SeanS]

I dug one up in January, the heat of our summer (South Africa)

1. Wear gloves, a helmet, and if possibly, body armour
2. Cut down to a stump with little to no foliage
3. Stick the stump in any dirt you have available
3. Water once a week
4. Profit

 

[cbrshadow23]

"cbrshadow23,
Is there any benefit to using rooting hormone on the large branch cuttings?
You are very welcome.
Yes, I think so. With the big cutting ( > 10 cm diameter), I always soaked the branch end into the water mixed with rooting hormone for 12- 24 hours

I've seen where people cut a 45 degree cut out of the bottom of each branch cutting to promote root growth - is that a good idea?
Yes, it is, but you have to make sure the surface of the cutting area be parallel to the pot's bottom surface, otherwise you may have only root appear in the lower part of the cut surface.
With the big cutting, I just make a horizontal cut (90 degree with the branch axis) to keep the cutting more stable in the pot and to have the roots come out equally around the cut surface.
Hope it will help.
Thụ Thoại

Well, I did it! It took longer to dig up than I expected, since there was an old tree stump near it that had roots tangled up with the Bougainvillea. I was careful and exposed those roots and cut them out.
Here's what it looks like pulled from the ground. It's bigger than I expected, and heavy! The pot I was thinking I'd put it in is probably not quite deep enough (Large concrete mixing tray from Home Depot, 8" deep) so I'm keeping it moist (spraying roots, keeping it in plastic bags in the shade) while I scramble to find an appropriate pot.
Just a few questions if you don't mind.
1) I kept as much root base as I could. How does this look? Likelyhood of survival?
2) The big thick root on the right side (in the first picture) prevents me from putting this into a huge ceramic pot that I have available. I'm considering cutting it back. Is this a bad idea?
3) I posted this on a general bonsai group and a few people said it's not likely to survive without the "main root ball". I believe they aren't familiar with Bougainvillea since this didn't really have a main root ball, just a few big roots shooting outward.
Any other tips would be really appreciated. This was a really big effort to dig out yesterday due to where it was (between a couple slabs of concrete on a patio), so I really want to do everything right.

 

[cbrshadow23]

Another update: I've put the big Bougainvillea into a large concrete mixing tray. I drilled drainage holes, anchored the plant down, filled with 50/50 pumice/lava, and made a humidity cover with PVC and shipping wrap. It sits under an awning on my patio where it wont get any direct sunlight.
The picture was taken before I completely filled the tray with substrate.
So I think the next steps are to give it a heavy watering and then watch for condensation. Once condensation starts fading I'll know it's time to water again. Then just wait and hope for lots of new spouts.

Questions:
1) Should I trim any of the branches to clean things up, or leave them?
2) Eventually I'd like to repot this into a nicer clay bonsai pot: how long until I can do that? 1 year?

 

[Mikecheck123]

It took longer to dig up than I expected

Yamadori always takes twice as long as you think it's going to!

Great looking tree!!

 

[michaelj]

It would have been nice to get more fine roots, but this is likely to survive. The lack of a big mass of fine roots is going to make the process take a little longer, but it should be fine. I've had several bougies come out of the ground looking much like this one, and they sprouted and rooted and thrived, and I don't even use the encasing in plastic method. I just put mine on the north side of the house, with afternoon shade, and make sure they get wet several times a day until they are established. This is going to be a nice tree. That base is great.

 

[j evans]

Nice find and good work. Looks like a fun project. Congrats!

 

[Arizona bonsai]

Could I root a one to two inch diameter bogi cutting this way, will it root from the bark? The bogi donner is 30 years old.

 

[MrWunderful]

Is there any organic in the soil? I am not a bougie expert, but I know they like to stay wet and worried that pumice/lava might be too dry

 

[Carol 83]

but I know they like to stay wet

No they don't.

 

[Lazylightningny]

That thing is a monster! We do like the big ones here at BNut, don't we?

 

[MrWunderful]

No they don't.

Shows you what I know! My mom has one that stays super wet, and its really healthy. And I live in same area as OP. But then again, I dont grow them so I will defer to the experts.

 

[Carol 83]

Shows you what I know! My mom has one that stays super wet, and its really healthy. And I live in same area as OP. But then again, I dont grow them so I will defer to the experts.

I am by no means an expert, but as tough as they are, keeping them too wet seems to be the one thing that can do them in.