You can see in the attached photo how much I had my bougainvillea cut back. Before cutting it was as tall as the palm in my neighbor's yard and 20 feet wide.
My question is, should I clean up the branches or a) leave as is, or b) cut the branches off and leave the main stalk, or c) something else?
I'm not much of a gardener and any help from experts will be greatly appreciated.

Tony in Tampa

Green foliage is producing food for the roots so I would keep them. Not sure why the drastic cut but if you desire a plant of a tinier height, consider a cultivar that already has an estimated size at maturity closer to your liking so you do not need to prune hard again. For an overgrown specimen, you can cut all crossing branches, make to inside/center more airy and sunlit and you can reduce branches that grow the wrong direction or that are not aesthetically pleasing. In between prunings, you can also use pinching of faded blooms. Both specimens have too much growth towards the left side of each plant. Perhaps cut the bottom left branch of the second plant. I could not tell if any of these remaining branches are too close or touching other; need a 3-dimensional picture ;o)) for that. After there is more leafout, take a second look to see if the new look is what you want and do minor tweaks if needed.

You CAN use hedge shears on them to keep them bushy and any size you like. You DO, however, lose a lot of blooms.

Thanks to both of you for replying as that is very useful information. For sure I'll begin by cutting the branches that are on the left side as pictured, and look for and cut any crossing branches.

It occurred to me that I have no idea what direction the new growth (branches) with go. Does new growth go upward or randomly?

Thanks again,

Tony in Tampa

tonynoriega4 said: …
It occurred to me that I have no idea what direction the new growth (branches) with go. Does new growth go upward or randomly?
…

Both.
When they regrow you have an opportunity to train and guide the young stems; you can even attach them to a trellis or arbor. They will very likely make some strong shoots that will want to grow like 10 ft. and you can curb that tendency by pinching out the tips early. This may encourage branching.
You may want to pick up some good fertilizer to make sure they don't become chlorotic - "BouGain" is the best.

Per your suggestion I just ordered a 10 lb. bag of BouGain and that begs another question: seeing the size of the two plants, how much BouGain should I spread on them? And yes, I plan on erecting a trellis wall between the plants and my neighbor's yard.

Thanks for your insight as it's much appreciated.

Tony/Tampa

Curious if you have a "before" pic?

"Before" photo attached. I removed the boug because, as you can see to the left of the frame, there was a wooden and rotted fence behind it that needed to be taken out.

On the BouGain follow the instructions on the package. You may want to increase the frequency of application if you have a lot of rain.

The new fence is a definite improvement, very nice. Love the arbor thing. Have you thought about putting that over/around the Bougs? That would give more height to the spot right away, and provide some support for the Bougs to lean on.

Thanks for your remarks and yes, the white fence is clearly an improvement. As for support of the boug branches, my plan is to build a trellis and install it between the two bougs and the fence.

That sounds beautiful. : )

That arch needs to be seen and not covered up.

This

is the bougainvillea on the right in previous photos. I'm amazed at how fast the shoots are growing! By the way, on the top left of the photo you can see a piece of the DIY trellis I installed and hopefully it will be full of flowering growth this time next year. Sorry about the duplicate pictures.

Fantastic update!

Thanks Tiffany! By the way, during my call to friends in Dothan I mentioned that I'd never heard of your town Opp, and they related that they've visited numerous times. As you know, it's an easy name to remember. Tony

Wait until it warms up! Then it will explode.

Thanks CalPolygardener~

While it'll get warmer here in the summer months, it's already in the 80's most days, and of course the sun is getting higher in the sky.

Thanks for your kind reply.

Tony