When Does Bougainvillea Grow After a Hard Prune?

Growth Cycle

• When exposed to a full-sun location, your bougainvillea produces tiny, white blossoms within protective, colorful bracts throughout the year; these plants are not limited to one flowering cycle a year. In fact, bougainvilleas often flower every two months, depending on the variety. Between flowering cycles, they send out extensive stems and leaves that provide new growing points for future flowers. The extensive leaf development provides more photosynthesis energy for this rapidly expanding shrub. Because there is no dormant period, hard pruning your bougainvillea must be planned between blooming times to take advantage of the vegetative growing period for recovery.

Proper Pruning Period

• Once you observe your bougainvillea dropping blossoms, it is entering its vegetative period. You should hard prune at this point so that the vine can continue stem and leaf development. Because you are removing a large portion of the plant, your bougainvillea has a chance to recover from the stress of hard pruning; you are cutting away energy-producing leaves that the vine relies on for a healthy lifespan. Hard pruning during the flowering period leaves the plant open to heat and pathogen stress since it cannot create new growth at this point.

Flowering Effects

• A hard prune during the vegetative period does affect future flowering. Bougainvillea uses new stem growth for flower budding -- older stems do not typically generate the signature blossoms. As a result, your first blooming period after a hard prune results in few flowers on the shrub. However, this strong plant often returns with prolific blossoming after another vegetative period. The hard prune forces the bougainvillea to direct energy into stem development for successful flowering and pollination.

Light Pruning Benefits

• Instead of a hard prune, consistently pinch your growing bougainvillea tips as a strategy to form your shrub and control its spreading habit. By removing the stem above each leaf base, you encourage a bushy appearance, rather than a long, spreading vine that often tangles into an unsightly shape. With this bushy shape, new flowers cover the bougainvillea with a higher density compared to infrequent hard pruning strategies.