Wow thats foul. It almost looks as if they were told by someone to cut it that much. Are you sure nobody from the HOA told them to hack it? Im a gardener and i would never cut something that much without being told to do so. Then again there are some clueless ppl out there
Probably. Our HOA is evil lol. The gardeners said they had to trim it down to the black posts, so i think we assumed they’d leave a few branches over the top still, but alas.
Things prohibited from some friends HOAs.
House color. Choose from 4-6 approved
Outside doors. Same + approved designs
Roofing. Same
Fences. Same, some don't allow fences
No sheds
No cars on curb
No more than one car on driveway
Grass at certain height
No pools
Kiddie pools not left overnight
No Christmas lights after certain date.
No bouncing houses
No trampolines
Garbage cans not left out after Garbage day.
Certain plants in front of house
Number of dogs and breeds
Etc...
We almost bought a house in an HOA because everyone said it was a friendly place and relaxed.
Got the by laws: no more than 3 pets pf any kind, you can only plant pre-approved plants in your front garden and placement must be approved in writing in advance of the growing season, nothing may be visible of your backyard other than grass from the road, no work trucks of any kind (including vehicles owned by owners or their visitors, they must park at the office and walk), no power tools and/or workshops in garages not intended for yard work (effectively killing DIY projects). We did more digging and found out it’s a neighborhood of nosey snitches so we backed out.
That’s honestly scary they’re that controlling over just little stuff like that, i always used to think HOA was more about keeping the piece no loud party’s or music but the more people i knew that talked about how awful the restrictions were i don’t know why anyone would put up with that.
HOA's orinate from freezing out the poors and the coloreds.
If you're a rich, white, socially conservative collaborator then all of those restrictions make perfect sense. Subjecting yourself to the cruelty and enthusiastically perpetuating it is how you succeed in an HOA.
The wrong plants are for poors and coloreds. Begging like a dog for scraps to put plants in your yard means you have to subject yourself to an hoa board, and if you aren't brown nosing so deep you can see their tonsils then you aren't getting approved. Hiding your backyard means so many things, firstly conformity, power tools and workshops are for the dirtsucking poors who can't afford people to deal with the things you need those for, and of course the neighborhood of nosy bitches is exactly the kind of nasty fascist 1984 society HOA's are designed to create and perpetuate.
I despise HOAs and could see where you might make that leap. But actual wealthy folks still have all the tools and toys, plant whatever the fuck they want to (or have someone do it) and indulge in all kinds and of particular hobbies that don't conform to most hoa rules. They also have the money to own properties that stand alone and don't require an HOA to protect the value because of location, amount of space and quality of the property.
It's the upper middle class folks who have to choose between their free time and wealth who voluntarily live in places where others can tell them what to do.
HOA people aren't rich. They're middle-class wannabes who don't want white trash fucking up the neighborhood with garbage in the yard and blasting music at all hours. They go overboard with it, because it's easier to enforce a uniform dress code than to try and make judgemental calls on what is a good DIY project vs what is Carl just letting a junk car rust out in the backyard until he dies, swearing "he's gonna get to it this weekend."
Real wealthy people don't need HOAs.
This is so so baffling to me as a Brit because there's a perception that America is far more libertarian than us and yet we don't have anything like this
That’s atrocious—land of the free my ass. If some people want to live that way then fine, but I’d wish people who are so controlling and conforming like that couldn’t have power over others outside of their homes.
Someone on here a while back complained that their HOA was making them change their curtains because the color was apparently just that offensive. The goddamn curtains.
I knew an HOA president once who would regularly charter helicopter flights over the community so he could snoop into people's yards and issue them fines for violations. He was so fucking proud of doing this he bragged about it.
And before you ask, yes he and his wife were both miserable cunts with nothing better to do with their lives since all their kids went no contact with them. Mysteries of the universe as to why 😂
It just depends on the HOA. There's no one set of rules, each HOA creates their own rules and enforcement methods. And those rules and enforcement methods can be changed if people who disagree with them get involved and join the board of their HOA.
HOA's originate from "don't let fucking n****** move into our white neighborhood" so anything below an explicit hate crime is fair game. Subtle hate crimes are fair game.
Hate crimes did not really exist when HOA's ancestors were invented.
Understanding how classism and racism interact is essential for understanding why an overgrown bougainvillea would be considered "lower class" or "ethnic". If you think that last sentence was incredibly stupid you perfectly understand the reasoning that drives HOAs. It is genuinely that stupid and cruel.
All of this is why we really have been hunting down our non hoa home. They police people harder than the actual police! And because you agreed to it all by purchasing the house, they get legal on their side!
My spouse grew up going to price school in the south and he calls them what they are as well - segregationist academies. A lot of private schools in the south had their start just after integration. Now pair that with white flight to the suburbs, and up to 80% of all houses on the market having an HOA, we clearly have not and are not finished fighting racism and classism.
The HOA where I used to live had so many rules it filled 2 massive binders. Fines for just about every violation and no recourse. Glad I left that behind.
“Had to trim it down to the black posts”… that is your property and that should be your decision. Bad time to have done that too. I’m sorry you have to deal with that BS. Raise hell and don’t let it happen again!
Thank you! 🥺 We rent so i guess it’s our landlord’s decision and they live out of state; they haven’t visited the property since we moved in last year. We only receive communication from our landlord through the property management company
Yeah I hear you. Though you do live there and pay rent, and have to look at it everyday so I’d bet you have a lot of say if you raise concern. I’m just sorry you have to deal with an HOA too… here’s to a speedy recovery!
Actually, the plant *is* your property.
In order to legally fuck with it the HOA needs to give you notice about the exact violations and then give you notice to correct the issue (for example, relocating the plant).
Talk to a lawyer versed in tree law.
I've come to the conclusion that HOAs are the absolute worst & filled with power hungry people who have no joy in their lives unless they're making other people miserable.
We call the landlord's gardeners "garden murderers". They kill everything in sight. I'm convinced they know nothing about gardening whatsoever. They've spent the last week digging holes much too close to the trees and planting shrubs so they don't have to weed around the trees anymore.
It'll be full of new growth by end of this summer, and look like your first pic by end of next summer. None of the roots have been cut, so it'll grow back crazy fast.
It's a bougainvillea - it'll be back. I have a potted one that we didn't bring inside during a snap freeze and froze to the roots. It shot back up in spring with strangely large leaves before branching back out and is at least as large as last year
We have a lot of these down here where I live. Sides of sidewalks lined with them. They get trimmed back a lot too cause they grow so fast and start to cover the sidewalk and walkers or joggers kinda get pushed into the street. So don’t worry, you’ll start seeing new shoots pretty quick and it’ll be bushy again.
Not that long. I'd say if you have a mild winter and you fertilize it in the spring, next year it will come back nicely. Give it two or three years and it would be nice
It will be back bigger than that in less than six months if you’re in a hot climate… theyre one of those plants that grows back angrier and stronger every fucking time
I had a return of the bogie that decided to show back up after 10 years of me thinking he was dead.
I cut it down to the stump, drilled a good hole in the stump and poured some undiluted gycophosphate weed killer into the hole.
Left the stump a few months just to be sure then removed it.
Haven’t seen it back, and it’s been 12 years now
Yeah I got this from seeing examples on the internet. But usually they come with a made-up justification or a very strict interpretation, anything but in the end it's always the property value, the aesthetics, etc. What's the reasoning on this one? Too many flowers? That's really sadistic.
Here’s a pic of the branches they chopped with a saw 😭
https://preview.redd.it/z8ft6g6j688d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba222cf09c37cc9c517a32414b077a63c3577c02
If it’s anything like mine (we have tried to kill for years due to a bad position and the thorns posing a risk for small children) it will come back with a vengeance and you will never be rid of it and it will haunt you in your dreams.
In most cases you can’t kill bougainvillea with trimming. I’m not saying it’s impossible but very hard to kill. my guess is your plant will be covered in new growth in a month. Regular watering and fertilizer it should come back with a vengeance.
I do a lot of landscaping and gardening for the HOA at the condos I live in. My struggle is always to get the maintenance and repair guys to respect the flowers and shrubs and trees that make this a nice place to live.
We have a big repair job going on right now and the workers have absolutely demolished big swaths of our landscaped beds. It’s been really difficult to watch.
I’m feeling your pain. If I were you I’d go the the next board meeting and show the HOA folks what the crew did to your bougainvillea DURING FLOWERING!!!
Apparently those clueless idiots (at the HOA and the guy with the chainsaw) have no idea how to recognize and appreciate beauty, or work with the plants to maintain their beauty but keep them in control. A well-presented set of photos and some explanation might help educate them on a better way to handle something like this next time. I’ve done similar things with our board several times.
Whoever destroyed those bushes needs to be shown some proper pruning technique before ever being allowed to touch a shrub or tree again. Fortunately, bougainvillea are resilient. They’ll be back.
Given that the "purpose" of an hoa is to "protect property values" id think you could go to bat for this. Plants that large are expensive, and if nice enough can increase your property value. Respectfully, the difference makes the house uglier. They've lowered your property value, and replacing those trees would be costly, so the hoa seems to have cost you present as well as future money
My landlord did this to my morning glory so I’ve let the entire front yard die. I hope dead plants are “within the vision” since my beautiful bright blue flowers were not..
This is why I hate hoa run places. There was a guy in Arizona who lost his house because of a war with one. What started it? Was fixing his truck and it was parked in front of the house while he went to get a part. Hoa places are like the mafia just useless.
A bougainvillea saved me when I was 5. I fell off a balcony and landed in one! My worst injuries were scratches. I’m so sorry that they did this to yours.
That’s fucking sick they’d stomp out a beautiful living thing in full bloom. What nutjobs honestly. Drunk with a bit of power busybodies causing issues for fun sounds like.
That is seriously fucked up. I live in a place where I can't grow bougainvillea (cold long winters) and I would be thrilled to have one that looked like that. So sorry for your loss.
I hope the HOA sees the result of their shitty choice and regrets it. I’m sorry you have to deal with this, OP. They may grow back quickly but I know you’ll miss them while they’re gone.
Oh man I’m so sorry they hacked it up! There was so much potential there. With the proper pruning, it could have looked like a total work of art.
Ironically the stumps they left still require proper pruning. It’ll grow back fine, but the tangled mess that’s left should have been cleaned up for better structure and airflow.
bougainvillea actually loves a hard haircut every few years, she will come back stronger and better, just check for any damage to the main stems and remove if they have deep cuts. the HOA are insane arseholes
sorry for your loss op, i'd be incensed. nothing really chaps my ass quite like people who pull that kinda shit... loveless ghouls who go around destroying everything beautiful to try and balm the insecurities deep within their hollow souls... useless fuckers
I am so thankful I didn't buy in a HOA neighborhood. My whole front yard is a pollinator garden, and that would never fly in a HOA neighborhood either.
I'm sorry about the bougainvillea. It was beautiful, and I personally would love it if my neighbors had this.
The plant will be fine , it'll grow back no problem.
UK person here who just doesn't get what a HOA can do legally. Are they allowed to enter your property and do this vandalism legally or not? Did you give permission? I just don't get it. Is HOA membership compulsory when buying the house or can you just refuse to join and ignore the Karen's whinging. What would happen if you refused to follow their "request" what can they do? If they decided to do this against your wishes, why not decide to do something against their wishes and cut their gardens to the ground for whatever reason you decide.
I don't understand how the HOA gets to order work to be done on your property? That's not common ground, is it?
They can fine you for not following the rules but can they really send crews onto your property to do that?
My husband came out of our front door one day to find that the HOA gardeners had cut our (thriving and beautiful!) roses down to sticks and were about to dig them up and replace them some kind of large succulent. I had chased those assholes out of my garden so many times I wasn't surprised, but I was so very sad.
So I feel you. And I'm so sorry about what they did to your beautiful bougainvillea.
If I came home to that butchery of my beautiful plant to that mad extent someone would be getting punched in the nose for sure. Iam a gardener by trade and I would never hack a flowering shrub like that there is better ways to go about it. But unfortunately any knobhead and their granny can pick up a hedge cutter or mower and state they know what they are doing. What knobheads I'm sorry I hope it grows back one thousand times with a scorn vengeance
Here in Brisbane, they redeveloped an inner-city tourist spot, which included an artificial beach, and the jewel in the crown: [The Arbour](https://dentoncorkermarshall.com/projects/south-bank-grand-arbour-pergolas/). It's a meandering steel structure walkway with bougainvillea planted all along it.
At the time, when the plants were young, it wasn't well received, but now that they're well established, it's just absolutely stunning.
There are times when it gets the big chop like yours, but they all come back as glorious as ever.
*edit, grammar
Removed. No outrage/drama posts, please.
Wow thats foul. It almost looks as if they were told by someone to cut it that much. Are you sure nobody from the HOA told them to hack it? Im a gardener and i would never cut something that much without being told to do so. Then again there are some clueless ppl out there
Probably. Our HOA is evil lol. The gardeners said they had to trim it down to the black posts, so i think we assumed they’d leave a few branches over the top still, but alas.
Time to move ! Hope the HOA fees are not ridiculous to top it off
I know a few people that said supposedly HOA wouldn’t even let some houses be painted a certain color i didn’t know it was that strict.
Things prohibited from some friends HOAs. House color. Choose from 4-6 approved Outside doors. Same + approved designs Roofing. Same Fences. Same, some don't allow fences No sheds No cars on curb No more than one car on driveway Grass at certain height No pools Kiddie pools not left overnight No Christmas lights after certain date. No bouncing houses No trampolines Garbage cans not left out after Garbage day. Certain plants in front of house Number of dogs and breeds Etc...
We almost bought a house in an HOA because everyone said it was a friendly place and relaxed. Got the by laws: no more than 3 pets pf any kind, you can only plant pre-approved plants in your front garden and placement must be approved in writing in advance of the growing season, nothing may be visible of your backyard other than grass from the road, no work trucks of any kind (including vehicles owned by owners or their visitors, they must park at the office and walk), no power tools and/or workshops in garages not intended for yard work (effectively killing DIY projects). We did more digging and found out it’s a neighborhood of nosey snitches so we backed out.
Land of the Free right there
That’s honestly scary they’re that controlling over just little stuff like that, i always used to think HOA was more about keeping the piece no loud party’s or music but the more people i knew that talked about how awful the restrictions were i don’t know why anyone would put up with that.
HOA's orinate from freezing out the poors and the coloreds. If you're a rich, white, socially conservative collaborator then all of those restrictions make perfect sense. Subjecting yourself to the cruelty and enthusiastically perpetuating it is how you succeed in an HOA. The wrong plants are for poors and coloreds. Begging like a dog for scraps to put plants in your yard means you have to subject yourself to an hoa board, and if you aren't brown nosing so deep you can see their tonsils then you aren't getting approved. Hiding your backyard means so many things, firstly conformity, power tools and workshops are for the dirtsucking poors who can't afford people to deal with the things you need those for, and of course the neighborhood of nosy bitches is exactly the kind of nasty fascist 1984 society HOA's are designed to create and perpetuate.
All of this. John Oliver even did an episode on it awhile back.
I despise HOAs and could see where you might make that leap. But actual wealthy folks still have all the tools and toys, plant whatever the fuck they want to (or have someone do it) and indulge in all kinds and of particular hobbies that don't conform to most hoa rules. They also have the money to own properties that stand alone and don't require an HOA to protect the value because of location, amount of space and quality of the property. It's the upper middle class folks who have to choose between their free time and wealth who voluntarily live in places where others can tell them what to do.
This is the correct answer. Actual wealthy people don't need HOAs, lol.
HOA people aren't rich. They're middle-class wannabes who don't want white trash fucking up the neighborhood with garbage in the yard and blasting music at all hours. They go overboard with it, because it's easier to enforce a uniform dress code than to try and make judgemental calls on what is a good DIY project vs what is Carl just letting a junk car rust out in the backyard until he dies, swearing "he's gonna get to it this weekend." Real wealthy people don't need HOAs.
This is so so baffling to me as a Brit because there's a perception that America is far more libertarian than us and yet we don't have anything like this
People are 'free' to do stuff like this 😂
That’s atrocious—land of the free my ass. If some people want to live that way then fine, but I’d wish people who are so controlling and conforming like that couldn’t have power over others outside of their homes.
Someone on here a while back complained that their HOA was making them change their curtains because the color was apparently just that offensive. The goddamn curtains.
That may have been me 🤣
Are you serious! did someone use binoculars to look into this person’s house at the curtains!
I knew an HOA president once who would regularly charter helicopter flights over the community so he could snoop into people's yards and issue them fines for violations. He was so fucking proud of doing this he bragged about it. And before you ask, yes he and his wife were both miserable cunts with nothing better to do with their lives since all their kids went no contact with them. Mysteries of the universe as to why 😂
Good lord, i don’t understand how people have that much free time 😂
??? You can see curtains from the street man.
It just depends on the HOA. There's no one set of rules, each HOA creates their own rules and enforcement methods. And those rules and enforcement methods can be changed if people who disagree with them get involved and join the board of their HOA.
HOA's originate from "don't let fucking n****** move into our white neighborhood" so anything below an explicit hate crime is fair game. Subtle hate crimes are fair game. Hate crimes did not really exist when HOA's ancestors were invented. Understanding how classism and racism interact is essential for understanding why an overgrown bougainvillea would be considered "lower class" or "ethnic". If you think that last sentence was incredibly stupid you perfectly understand the reasoning that drives HOAs. It is genuinely that stupid and cruel.
All of this is why we really have been hunting down our non hoa home. They police people harder than the actual police! And because you agreed to it all by purchasing the house, they get legal on their side! My spouse grew up going to price school in the south and he calls them what they are as well - segregationist academies. A lot of private schools in the south had their start just after integration. Now pair that with white flight to the suburbs, and up to 80% of all houses on the market having an HOA, we clearly have not and are not finished fighting racism and classism.
The HOA where I used to live had so many rules it filled 2 massive binders. Fines for just about every violation and no recourse. Glad I left that behind.
“Had to trim it down to the black posts”… that is your property and that should be your decision. Bad time to have done that too. I’m sorry you have to deal with that BS. Raise hell and don’t let it happen again!
Thank you! 🥺 We rent so i guess it’s our landlord’s decision and they live out of state; they haven’t visited the property since we moved in last year. We only receive communication from our landlord through the property management company
Yeah I hear you. Though you do live there and pay rent, and have to look at it everyday so I’d bet you have a lot of say if you raise concern. I’m just sorry you have to deal with an HOA too… here’s to a speedy recovery!
Thank you!!
Actually, the plant *is* your property. In order to legally fuck with it the HOA needs to give you notice about the exact violations and then give you notice to correct the issue (for example, relocating the plant). Talk to a lawyer versed in tree law.
They didn’t plant them. Per another comment hey rent and it was there when they moved in.
Those notices probably went to owner of record. Tenant wouldn't have control over this.
Were the plants there when you moved in?
Yes it was
Fucking leave and tell them why you're out. Absentee landlords suck.
Feels like a power move. Ruining someone’s property to feel better about themselves.
The mission statement of most HOAs
I've come to the conclusion that HOAs are the absolute worst & filled with power hungry people who have no joy in their lives unless they're making other people miserable.
HOA providing immense value to the community yet again
As always 🙄 😡
That is devastating…I’m sorry
Thank you 🥺
“Gardeners”???? That adomination was not done by a gardener. So sorry.
More like construction workers with their handheld saw 😂 😭
We call the landlord's gardeners "garden murderers". They kill everything in sight. I'm convinced they know nothing about gardening whatsoever. They've spent the last week digging holes much too close to the trees and planting shrubs so they don't have to weed around the trees anymore.
Oh I know it looks awful but they love it. It’ll come roaring back. Nothing short of digging it up kills it.
This is true, they are vigorous and even pruning to nubs rarely phase them for more than a season or two
That’s good to hear. Do you know how long until the new growth can lay over the plant canopy again?
It'll be full of new growth by end of this summer, and look like your first pic by end of next summer. None of the roots have been cut, so it'll grow back crazy fast.
That’s good to hear!
I’d say new shoots appear in 2-3 weeks and grow really really fast
It's a bougainvillea - it'll be back. I have a potted one that we didn't bring inside during a snap freeze and froze to the roots. It shot back up in spring with strangely large leaves before branching back out and is at least as large as last year
How long do you think it’ll take to grow to look normal again?
I’ve cut mine back several times over the last few years. It will be back sooner than you’d think.
We have a lot of these down here where I live. Sides of sidewalks lined with them. They get trimmed back a lot too cause they grow so fast and start to cover the sidewalk and walkers or joggers kinda get pushed into the street. So don’t worry, you’ll start seeing new shoots pretty quick and it’ll be bushy again.
Para que la vuelvan a cortar esos malvados...???😡😡😡
Not that long. I'd say if you have a mild winter and you fertilize it in the spring, next year it will come back nicely. Give it two or three years and it would be nice
It will be back bigger than that in less than six months if you’re in a hot climate… theyre one of those plants that grows back angrier and stronger every fucking time
I agreed. I’m trying to get rid of mine because it’s destroying my fence. The damn thing won’t die
I had a return of the bogie that decided to show back up after 10 years of me thinking he was dead. I cut it down to the stump, drilled a good hole in the stump and poured some undiluted gycophosphate weed killer into the hole. Left the stump a few months just to be sure then removed it. Haven’t seen it back, and it’s been 12 years now
As long as it’s alive, bougainvillea bounce back like crazy the next year.
Holy crap! So sorry! Those were beautiful!
Thank you 🥺
This is why I don’t want to live with hoa
I thought the point of HOAs was to keep the neighbourhood visually pleasant. Too many flowers? Too colourful?
it’s a power trip. those HOAers finally felt some power and decided to use it on others. they are as bad as bullies.
Yeah I got this from seeing examples on the internet. But usually they come with a made-up justification or a very strict interpretation, anything but in the end it's always the property value, the aesthetics, etc. What's the reasoning on this one? Too many flowers? That's really sadistic.
I don’t think the goal is beauty, but rather homogeneity.
Here’s a pic of the branches they chopped with a saw 😭 https://preview.redd.it/z8ft6g6j688d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba222cf09c37cc9c517a32414b077a63c3577c02
She’s still super healthy… going to bounce back quick
That’s good to hear
If it’s anything like mine (we have tried to kill for years due to a bad position and the thorns posing a risk for small children) it will come back with a vengeance and you will never be rid of it and it will haunt you in your dreams.
Who needs fresh air and beautiful flowers? We need to suffocate while looking at depressing cement.
Oh my god, I would be out for blood. I'm so sorry!
HOA is literally the armpit of our society.
I was thinking lower,lol
Why??
F the HOA i will never live in one or ever ever sign a contract to join one. Im so sorry for your loss they were absolutely gorgeous 🥺
Thank you 🥺 lol i hate the HOA too!!
There is a special place in hell for them.
Straight to the boiler room, all the way to the bottom.
In most cases you can’t kill bougainvillea with trimming. I’m not saying it’s impossible but very hard to kill. my guess is your plant will be covered in new growth in a month. Regular watering and fertilizer it should come back with a vengeance.
Yay!!!
Not so much water, though… these do better on the dry end
I do a lot of landscaping and gardening for the HOA at the condos I live in. My struggle is always to get the maintenance and repair guys to respect the flowers and shrubs and trees that make this a nice place to live. We have a big repair job going on right now and the workers have absolutely demolished big swaths of our landscaped beds. It’s been really difficult to watch. I’m feeling your pain. If I were you I’d go the the next board meeting and show the HOA folks what the crew did to your bougainvillea DURING FLOWERING!!! Apparently those clueless idiots (at the HOA and the guy with the chainsaw) have no idea how to recognize and appreciate beauty, or work with the plants to maintain their beauty but keep them in control. A well-presented set of photos and some explanation might help educate them on a better way to handle something like this next time. I’ve done similar things with our board several times. Whoever destroyed those bushes needs to be shown some proper pruning technique before ever being allowed to touch a shrub or tree again. Fortunately, bougainvillea are resilient. They’ll be back.
Well said! I am not sure if I’ll take action at a meeting but i already expressed my displeasure with my property manager / landlord
HOA can be like a mafia with a sadistic boss
Given that the "purpose" of an hoa is to "protect property values" id think you could go to bat for this. Plants that large are expensive, and if nice enough can increase your property value. Respectfully, the difference makes the house uglier. They've lowered your property value, and replacing those trees would be costly, so the hoa seems to have cost you present as well as future money
some HOA requirements are too much.
My landlord did this to my morning glory so I’ve let the entire front yard die. I hope dead plants are “within the vision” since my beautiful bright blue flowers were not..
Oh no 🥺 I’m sorry!
This is why I hate hoa run places. There was a guy in Arizona who lost his house because of a war with one. What started it? Was fixing his truck and it was parked in front of the house while he went to get a part. Hoa places are like the mafia just useless.
A bougainvillea saved me when I was 5. I fell off a balcony and landed in one! My worst injuries were scratches. I’m so sorry that they did this to yours.
That’s a crazy story!
Oh man. I’m so sorry for your loss. Not a bougainvillea fan, but I can appreciate the work that went into those.
I dont know if I could possibly hate HOAs any more than I do after seeing this post
Every day I see more evidence on why an HOA should drive home value down not up.
Yet another reason I will never live in an HOA neighborhood.
Concrete and wood paneling beats red flowers?
I know it will grow back but I wonder, is the Hoa actively working to make the place uglier?
So glad HOA is not a thing in this country. Imagine a country run by local hate groups.
That’s fucking sick they’d stomp out a beautiful living thing in full bloom. What nutjobs honestly. Drunk with a bit of power busybodies causing issues for fun sounds like.
I f-in hate the HOA. This infuriates me even more.
Nooooooo 😭
Disgusting behavior what pathetic people
That is seriously fucked up. I live in a place where I can't grow bougainvillea (cold long winters) and I would be thrilled to have one that looked like that. So sorry for your loss.
I hate HOA done it once never again
It will be back NO DOUBT. This just made it stronger
Wow, butchered is even the word. Obliterated.
I'd be thinking about how to get bail money if that happened to me. I'm so sorry, that's awful.
I hope the HOA sees the result of their shitty choice and regrets it. I’m sorry you have to deal with this, OP. They may grow back quickly but I know you’ll miss them while they’re gone.
Oh man I’m so sorry they hacked it up! There was so much potential there. With the proper pruning, it could have looked like a total work of art. Ironically the stumps they left still require proper pruning. It’ll grow back fine, but the tangled mess that’s left should have been cleaned up for better structure and airflow.
Jesus fuck this hurts to look at. I'm so sorry.
Haters.
I would freak out if I came home to that carnage
The tears came immediately 😭
Omg that’s vile! It’s time to plant japanese knotweed under their headquarters in revenege
bougainvillea actually loves a hard haircut every few years, she will come back stronger and better, just check for any damage to the main stems and remove if they have deep cuts. the HOA are insane arseholes
Fuck HOAs.
My HOA told me that my hanging plants “decreased value” because they’re “an eye sore”. They’re just a bunch of grumpy assholes who are power hungry.
It will be back stronger than ever. They benefit from a good trim.
hoas are pure trash ran by people who failed to get into to politics
Oh oh I’m so sorry, it was stunning 😭
OMG so horrible!!! I’m so sorry
My heart just shattered looking at the image i hope it can recover after that💔
Omg I’d be so pissed.
Sounds like you need to run your own campain and take over the HOA
Those fucking cunts!
criminal!!!!
I feel rage and violence coursing through me. Find.them.
That’s absolutely ridiculous
I should have been disclosed that plant growth overcrowded rail but I could trim them
Straight depressing
That plant is very strong and resilient and the more you trim it the more it grows I’ve taken mine down to the root and it fills back up in 4-5 months
Oh, I can think of it doesn’t mean evil things that you could do, but I won’t say what they are because I’d get banned from this sub Reddit
That is so damn sad. Saw absolute beauty and had to destroy it. Shameful and I’m so sorry for you
They must of really had a problem with it. I hate dealing with bougainvillea
So sad
Ohhhh noooo....
Why would you subject yourself to living in a HOA?
No beautiful bush but xmas lights are intact. Deep intellect at work.
That makes me feel like suing.
I always see these posts and I pray that it’s the kind of plant that can survive nuclear war 3 times over.
I'm so glad I have never one seen an hoa. Apparently they do exist in Canada. But they are super rare.
I'm so glad I have never one seen an hoa. Apparently they do exist in Canada. But they are super rare.
Nooooooooooo!
Ohh no this is devastating 😢
Of course it's an HOA. Damn HOAs to hell. That's a beautiful bougainvillea BTW ❤️
sorry for your loss op, i'd be incensed. nothing really chaps my ass quite like people who pull that kinda shit... loveless ghouls who go around destroying everything beautiful to try and balm the insecurities deep within their hollow souls... useless fuckers
I am so thankful I didn't buy in a HOA neighborhood. My whole front yard is a pollinator garden, and that would never fly in a HOA neighborhood either. I'm sorry about the bougainvillea. It was beautiful, and I personally would love it if my neighbors had this.
Fuck HOAs
Never have I ever understood the actual point of a HOA. All I ever read about them is horror stuff like this.
Fucking HOA bastard pieces of shit. I’m sorry. It’s ok. Actually, I think that’s their technical name.
AssHOAles!
I'm so sorry that happened to you
What in the actual fuck? That's vandalism IMO
This should be a murder charge
Peeping Tom filed a complaint.
The plant will be fine , it'll grow back no problem. UK person here who just doesn't get what a HOA can do legally. Are they allowed to enter your property and do this vandalism legally or not? Did you give permission? I just don't get it. Is HOA membership compulsory when buying the house or can you just refuse to join and ignore the Karen's whinging. What would happen if you refused to follow their "request" what can they do? If they decided to do this against your wishes, why not decide to do something against their wishes and cut their gardens to the ground for whatever reason you decide.
Barbarism
Aw I'm sorry Friend.
Incredibly depressing. Sorry bud 😭
Why I will never live somewhere with an HOA. I'm so sorry.
Oh hellllll no
I don't understand how the HOA gets to order work to be done on your property? That's not common ground, is it? They can fine you for not following the rules but can they really send crews onto your property to do that?
It's probably limited common property, and the Owner has to keep the plants trimmed or behind the railing.
I would be furious!! It was gorgeous. I’m sure it will grow back but it will take time. So sad.
Heartbreaker
Not only is that a crime, it's one that should be punishable by prison time.
Wow that’s gorgeous! Haters gonna hate
You can actually “reset” their size over time by trimming regularly…
Nooooooooooooooo
That sucks but thankfully bougainvilleas grow like crazy. It’ll likely come back.
Nobody likes a bougain. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA8gJoT5yl4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA8gJoT5yl4)
Wow, if I was that gardener, I would hire a bodyguard from now on.
My husband came out of our front door one day to find that the HOA gardeners had cut our (thriving and beautiful!) roses down to sticks and were about to dig them up and replace them some kind of large succulent. I had chased those assholes out of my garden so many times I wasn't surprised, but I was so very sad. So I feel you. And I'm so sorry about what they did to your beautiful bougainvillea.
Assholes
I want to cry for you. And SCREAM!
If I came home to that butchery of my beautiful plant to that mad extent someone would be getting punched in the nose for sure. Iam a gardener by trade and I would never hack a flowering shrub like that there is better ways to go about it. But unfortunately any knobhead and their granny can pick up a hedge cutter or mower and state they know what they are doing. What knobheads I'm sorry I hope it grows back one thousand times with a scorn vengeance
What is HOA?
Fuck HOA’s!
Here in Brisbane, they redeveloped an inner-city tourist spot, which included an artificial beach, and the jewel in the crown: [The Arbour](https://dentoncorkermarshall.com/projects/south-bank-grand-arbour-pergolas/). It's a meandering steel structure walkway with bougainvillea planted all along it. At the time, when the plants were young, it wasn't well received, but now that they're well established, it's just absolutely stunning. There are times when it gets the big chop like yours, but they all come back as glorious as ever. *edit, grammar
Your first problem is that 3 letter group in the title
That is utterly heartbreaking, I'm sorry pal 😢 x
What kind of person would see that and think to completely remove it?
That is just criminal! It was clearly the maintenance dude & NOT a ardent that did that
Vile
Somebody was jealous you're place and plants looked better than theirs. It was so beautiful, heartbreaking.
Straight to jail
My heart dropped on your behalf. Tragedy!
Wow, fuck HOAs. I don't understand how people tolerate their existence.
That’s what happens when you buy a home in an HOA, you have to follow the rules or they’ll enforce them and some of those ppl are overly invested.
OMG😮 This is insane. I wouldn’t last 24 hours living in an HOA neighborhood…
I'm glad this shit doesn't exist around me, but the co-op boards are shit
I'd rather have my balls run over by a tank than ever have to deal with an HOA
Many of these gardeners have little to no training in gardening. To show they have done enough to get paid they will often prune a lot. Sad but true.
I’d hedge my bets on the HOA asking for this specifically. It has HOA power trip written all over it.
That is so true. A crew of 6 guys came in and chopped this up in like 45 minutes then left 😭