We have a six foot arbutus whose foliage seems to be under attack. We suspect that the location may be the problem more specifically the soil. Do you recommend transplanting in the spring or after the new leaves come out?
If you're talking about blackening this is a frequent problem. Moving it to another area might not help. If it has never been transplanted before, moving it to another area might kill it. Try looking for information about madrona diseases, see what can be done where it is.
we live on the puget sound (32 ' bank) and have a quite a few arbutus/madrona "volunteers" growing on the property (circa 1.5 acres). they usually do quite well if left where they decide to grow but we have not been able to sucessfully transplant any of them. occasionally some will get a disease that will wipe out the leaf growth on certain branches but by pruning them & using a fungicide spray the tree will usually recover. the younger trees seem to be the most susceptible to the foliage die back situations.
I have successfully transplanted several madrone trees . They have a taproot, so I think it is important to place the entire contents of the pot into the already prepared hole. I think they like good drainage and full sun, and I have planted them as such. One of mine got some black stuff, so I sprayed him with home made compost tea and he was fine. They are all healthy. I hope this helps. John
