Bourganviilla problem

Any chance it could have been the weather? I have a bougainvilla that is older than that and it grows huge. The heavy rain we had followed by a cold snap (in January I think) caused almost all the leaves to fall and I just had bare branches.  We cut it down to about 2 feet high and it's sprouting now. If bougainvilla roots are ok, it will grow back from being cut back. 

If you look here:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3579204/help-my-bougainvillea-seems-to-be-wilting

you can see what cold can do.

If you've had a lot of aphids leaving their sticky residue behid you can get sooty fungus, my big hibiscus was covered in back stuff but it hosed off easily enough.

I hope it's not permanent damage, bougainvilla can be messy but it's beautiful when it's in bloom.

Even if you're right about it being poisoned without cast iron proof that your neighbour was responsible, and that means eye witness or CCTV, I'm not sure what it is you think you might be able to do about it?

thanks for the reply, i know i cant do anything without proof but all i want to know is do they die naturally as in my limited experience they do not or has it been poisoned, then i can decide what to do with it

Why would your neighbour poison it?  Just how large is it?  Apart from sprouting vines that can grow massively if not tended to regulatly, the spikes can also be a hazard.  In addition, the mozzies nest in them throughout the Summer.

You can get the ground tested if you want but I suspect that without any actual proof that your neighbour did this, therr wont be much you can do - other than keep the bouganvilla tidy and neat.

Do you have a gardener?

Thanks for reply, you don’t know my neighbour for some reason he hates plants and is always complaining about the bracts falling, he can be a nasty piece of work and I wouldn’t put it past him but with no proof I can’t do anything about it , my main question is will it survive as some have suggested it could have been January frost and wet conditions,I do my own garden thank y

That's interesting about the mozzies. The house next door has been empty for decades, and the bougainvillea in the back yard has been running rampant... as have the mozzies on my patio. While it looks spectacular in bloom, I'd rather lose the mozzies. Do you know of any solutions suitable for 'over the wall'

If you can gain access, i doubt there would be any harm in 'tending' to the plants by cutting it back.  You would have to make that decision.

🤔 Worth considering with the season fast approaching. 

We had a bougainvillea which I loved. We had to pay regularly to have it cut back and kept in check but even when we were in residence, it had to be cut. Aside from cutting it back, we had to brush the patio three or four times a day! It became a part of our lives. Anyway, the tree wasn’t planted on our land, I had trained it for years and a lot of it was now covering our property.

 Ok. For some reason, the President of our urbanisation decided to remove it. It came as a terrible shock to us but now I’m indebted to him! No more leaves and dead flowers on the patio. I’ve put three large plants onto that side of the patio and had the hedge removed and replaced with glass fencing which runs up the side as well as the front. Painted the supporting walls white, put big white stones onto the old bed, bought solar LED lights to pop on top of the stones and the place now looks modern and smart. Goodbye Bougainvillea and sadly good riddance. You may very well feel the same. Don’t let this annoy you. In truth, your neighbour lives there but you don’t. Honestly, these trees grow like weeds and like you, we were madly in love with ours but hard to believe that we don’t miss it one little bit. sometimes these things prove to be a blessing in disguise. 
P.S.  think about it, your neighbour could have poisoned it years ago so why now?  Chances are, it’s the terrible winter weather that damaged it.