I have 2 lovely arbutus trees (from UBC garden seedlings) in pots approximately 6ft tall - I think they must need larger pots (currently in 2ft wide pots). We live in Ladner and the watertable makes ground planting impossible. Can anyone advise when to repot and what special needs they have if any (sandy, well-drained soil, I know). Waiting for my husband to earn enough money to buy my dream home on the Gulf Islands to plant them properly...but until then:) Bernita
I don't have a real answer, apart from acquiring several additional husbands to more quickly facilitate your dream-home acquisition. However, it is very important to realize the arbutus tree lives here, at its northern limit, on the Gulf Islands biotic zone soil-type, which exists in Victoria, sporadically up and down Vancouver Island, in the Gulf Islands themselves, and to a limited extent in West Vancouver at places such as Lighthouse Park. So you have a double problem: growing a tree in a container, and having it survive for more than just a couple of years, is challenging enough. Add to that your arbutus tree's very definite requirements. That is not the soil-type of most of Greater Vancouver. As you suggested yourself, it isn't enough to simply go for well-drained soil. In fact, you are at the limits of what is possible. If you look at Cultivation in Wikipedia, you see just how difficult this might be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_menziesii I would phone the UBC botanical gardens or else—sometimes a very effective technique—I'd phone the UBC botany department and ask the receptionist if "there is someone who knows a lot about horticulture—specifically arbutus trees" in the office at the moment. Receptionists are the unsung heroes of most businesses and institutions, and frequently you'll thereby find yourself being switched to someone who has both a real interest and knowledge in what you want to know.
See: Nursery Production and Landscape Establishment of Arbutus menziesii (from the book The Decline of the Pacific Madrone) Also, the challenges of establishing Pacific madrone
