Help me, kind gardeners

Fifth

Fifth

I want to grow bougainvillea across a garage wall approximately 3m tall by 10m wide.

We've attached the trellis to train it and we're ready to go when spring sets in. Baby bougainvilleas don't like the wet so I'm waiting for the rain to ease off a bit.

Now, bougainvilleas grow to be 5m high x 4m wide. The height is obviously sufficient but the width will require 3 plants.

My question is, will 3 plants be enough or should I plant more to ensure a nice dense coverage? If I plant more than 3 will I be crowding the plants?

I know bougainvilleas are fast growing but I'd preferably like to get the whole wall covered in as few seasons as possible. Planting say 4 or 5 plants would get the wall covered sooner but is there a long term drawback to this?
 
Does the wall get sun? If not, the foliage will head up so you'll need to train it down.
Four plants would get faster cover. You could always take one out later.
They have ones without thorns these days? I had one years ago with thorns. Never again.
 
If you plant more now then you will reach your goal sooner but be aware you will either need to prune or even take out 1-2 plants later on to reduce the weight and competition

I'd probably take out 1-2 myself once it's established.
 
depreciator said:
Does the wall get sun? If not, the foliage will head up so you'll need to train it down.
Four plants would get faster cover. You could always take one out later.
They have ones without thorns these days? I had one years ago with thorns. Never again.
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It gets full sun, luckily.

I know there are dwarf bougainvilleas which are meant to be less thorny, but the standard plants are still thorny nightmares so far as I know. People swear they are the devil to prune but they're just too damn pretty to resist.
 
westminster said:
If you plant more now then you will reach your goal sooner but be aware you will either need to prune or even take out 1-2 plants later on to reduce the weight and competition

I'd probably take out 1-2 myself once it's established.
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That's what I was afraid of. I might just be patient and plant the 3 rather than cull the extras later. Evidently my laziness trumps my impatience.
 
Fifth said:
Now, bougainvilleas grow to be 5m high x 4m wide. The height is obviously sufficient but the width will require 3 plants.

My question is, will 3 plants be enough or should I plant more to ensure a nice dense coverage? If I plant more than 3 will I be crowding the plants?
Click to expand...
With a 10 metre span just plant one each metre,they like Lime and Dynamic Lifter ,,the best 10 mts wall with that surface area mass I have seen had several different plants not all the same colour the look of all the different flowers can be stunning,the only downside is they like full sun and the spikes on the plants are real hard to remove from your hand even when wearing gloves..


Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food
 
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Would passion fruit be another option instead?
I'm about to hack off all the camellia in my place and replace with fruit trees.
I don't like pink and flower drop offs are dreadful.
Bougainvillea?Not for me,id find it time consuming.
 
a lovely trellis of bougainvillea and passionfruit. divine.
As a matter of interest, would either of these grow with a westerly aspect or is it just too harsh in summer?
 
willair said:
With a 10 metre span just plant one each metre,they like Lime and Dynamic Lifter ,,the best 10 mts wall with that surface area mass I have seen had several different plants not all the same colour the look of all the different flowers can be stunning,the only downside is they like full sun and the spikes on the plants are real hard to remove from your hand even when wearing gloves..


Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the food.

I've seen pictures of several colours mixed together and it does look amazing. I'm torn between mixed colours or a solid wall of hot pink. I do like bright colours :D
 
Shovelhead said:
Would passion fruit be another option instead?
I'm about to hack off all the camellia in my place and replace with fruit trees.
I don't like pink and flower drop offs are dreadful.
Bougainvillea?Not for me,id find it time consuming.
Click to expand...

We should switch yards. I like pink and I think camellia flower drop offs are lovely. I was planning on planting some camellias this spring too.

I do like passion fruit vines (though hate the fruit) and it would be a hell of a lot easier to tend to but it's simply not colourful enough for me. We culled a bunch of healthy conifers from along the garage wall because we wanted something colourful.
 
Fifth said:
I don't know about passion fruit but bougainvillea thrives in harsh sun.
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Excellent!

Would love to grow a passionfruit vine if anyone knows how to go about it.
I thought we couldn't grow them anymore 'cause someone patented them or something?
I love passionfruit and have decided life is too short. I now buy them when I can. Pity they're so exy. A vine would solve that problem.
 
The bougainvillea will go nuts if you feed it. But will all be green leafy growth. The best flowers, in my experience, are when you plant it is the worst, rock hard stony soil and then neglect it.
 
Simon said:
The bougainvillea will go nuts if you feed it. But will all be green leafy growth. The best flowers, in my experience, are when you plant it is the worst, rock hard stony soil and then neglect it.
Click to expand...

Ah, handy to know. I am more than happy to neglect it.
 
WattleIdo said:
Would love to grow a passionfruit vine if anyone knows how to go about it.
I thought we couldn't grow them anymore 'cause someone patented them or something?
I love passionfruit and have decided life is too short. I now buy them when I can. Pity they're so exy. A vine would solve that problem.
Click to expand...

I planted passion fruit 2 years ago and we had few fruits too. I bought it from a garden shop. Interestingly they had both male & female on one single tree.

However, my kiwi trees are hopeless. They are huge but no fruits yet.
 
willair said:
the plants are real hard to remove from your hand even when wearing gloves..
Click to expand...

After having to remove one from a rental, I would never plant one. The thorns are so sharp and strong they go straight through leather gloves.

Surely there is something else? What about passionfruit as mentioned?
 
We had wild jasmine spreading on a garden shed. It was densed ever green. Whole shed was covered with white flowers during its flowering season.
 
Hi,I don't want to hijack this thread,but initially i was thinking of putting a train sleeper style fence in the front yard.Anyone got suggestions on hedges?Seen some good ones that are like 10 foot high,this maybe a better option but i'm thinking the upkeep would be a pain.Thoughts?
 
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