AboutRussel Ray Expertise I can answer questions about water-wise landscaping, xeriscaping, and using native vegetation, cactus, and succulents to create a home paradise that won't increase your water bill.
Experience My wise ol' grandmother got me started with cactus and succulents 42 years ago. The rest, as they say, is history.
Organizations National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, Better Business Bureau of San Diego
Education/Credentials After graduating from Texas A&M University, I started a plant-sitting business in Houston to take care of the house plants when people went on vacation. That went on for five years before I moved back to College Station and started several businesses, one of which was a landscaping business specializing in "dry" landscaping.
Awards and Honors The privilege of working with people.
There were seven out-of-control bougainvilleas. Each bougainvillea had a height of about 20 feet and a spread of about 20 feet. They literally were tree size, with a trunk and root system to match.
Here's a close-up of one of them from the driveway above:
Ultimately I pruned them back severely so that they were just seven sticks in the ground about six feet tall. I let them grow back in a controlled manner so that I had a standard--a tree-like specimen--that I could walk under so that I could create some paths on the hillside and plant something in addition to the bougainvilleas.
The bougainvillea does have some severe thorns; roses don't have anything on the ol' bougainvillea. However, there are now some very nice dwarf bougainvilleas on the market that come in different colors and are thornless or practically so. Some of the interesting colors are those where the flower bracts change colors as the age. I have an orange one that starts out as gold, changes to bright orange, and fades to gold:
There's also a "pink" one that starts out as white, changes to bright pink, and then fades back to white. Unfortunately, I don't have it yet.
One should not plant bougainvilleas near the foundation of your house since the roots can cause damage to the foundation, and the very abrasive branches and thorns can damage the siding.
