I live in a condo and have Bougainvillia growing next to a fence and the stucco side of the building. The Home Owners' Association has asked me to remove the plant because they fear it is invasive and could damage the fence or building structure. Is this true? William Cutler
You sound as tho you are in a similar climate to here and the old purple one does get a bit rampant if left un pruned. I think it may depend on variety. I bet it's not as bad as some trees. They can be pruned. I have done a quck search re root invasion and does not seem to be a problem. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B544#lbl_culture Liz
Its as invasive as you allow it to be, if you prune it as Liz says then it shouldnt be a problem, it can make a fantastic display on the side of wall.
Hi, we have several Bougainvillea, two were planted right next to the house probably ~ 20 years ago . One has a trunk the thickness of my arm and is no problem. The other one was clearly happier and more rampant and in recent years has required heavy pruning each year. This one had a trunk almost 30cm ( 1 foot) in diameter. This did cause problems interfering with gutters, damaging roof tiles and causing a crack in a tiled patio. Sadly (it was a great sight in full flower), we had to remove it. However, I think the damage to the patio would be an unusual problem - we have a clay soil which is liable to shrink in summer and cause cracks anyway. It was planted within inches of the wall and patio and with an open soil area of only a couple of square feet or so- poor plant -the roots had to go somewhere. I think that if throughout it's life it had been pruned to keep it a manageable size, then no damage would have occured. So in my opinion, if your Bougainvillea is properly managed it should be no problem. Good Luck Brian
