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Companion Plants

arbutus marina - cousin of strawberry tree

20 years ago

We have some kinnikinnick around the arbutus, and I would like some low shrubs to the side of the tree, and a taller one behind the tree. Mostly sunny, eastern exposure, area about 10' x 20' along the driveway.

Just in front of this area there is another unplanted area about 10'x 10'. Can you suggest a tidy ground cover or some very low shrubs for this area, evergreen, drought tolerant, that would go well with the kinnikinnick and arbutus?

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Comments (6)

flowersandthings
19 years ago
AS far as tall shrubs that are drought tolerant chaste tree springs to mind....... for the low ones some spirea...... also rugosas can be low and tall...... rugosa roses I mean........ buddleia is also nice...... potentilla fructosa is evergreen I think and drought tolerant....... dianthus plumaris is evergreen and drought tolerant as is aremeria maritima...... sedums would also be nice...... low ones and tall ones...... there are evergreen ones as well and evergreen sempervivens........ have fun....... :) .......
maro
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks, flowers -

I looked up chaste tree - never heard of it before! I like the idea of a multi-trunked small tree behind the arbutus. It looks promising, but Sunset says moderate to regular water. Do you think in my area (PNW) it might do OK anyway? We have our rainy times but also plenty of dry times.

I'll look into potentilla, I forgot about that one. For the front, the armeria looks like a winner. I love dianthus but again, the water needs may be too great.

Thanks so much, sometimes I get overwhelmed with trying to choose.
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It is also the nature of this tree species to drop older leaves after they yellow, as they are pushing new growth this time of year. If the newest tip growth is not wilted, and they yellowing of foliage is only the older, lower leaves, it is probably adjusting to your site. It may have seen less sun at the nursery, so is under more moisture stress now that it is planted out, and presumably getting more sun. The critical thing with Arbutus 'Marina' is to make sure you gave it excellent drainage, and that it is not sitting in water at the base of the root ball. You should probably also use the hose once a week to give it a good slow soak to thoroughly wet the entire root ball, as conventional spray irrigation run times aren't going to be long enough to wet the soil down to the 2 foot depth of the root ball. It is a beautiful tree, and much easier to grow than the true native Arbutus menziesii, I hope yours recover.
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The Bremerton acacia shows signs of having frozen to the ground in the past and is of interest precisely because it is just about the only persisting one of much size known in the area. It is exceptional, like the azara in the UW Friendship Grove and the 50' eucryphia near Brian's place in Bremerton. Many others will have been planted elsewhere and frozen out in time. The late J. Witt of the Washington Park Arboretum once told me that there used to be a 50' eucryphia in a garden next door in the Broadmoor Golf and Country Club (most likely planted in the D. Graham garden) but it died in the awful 1955 freeze. An obvious difference between the two sites would be that the Broadmoor location is some miles from salt water, whereas the Bremerton site is quite close. If you are close to the beach the salt water keeps your minimum temperatures higher enough than even areas father inland but close by to make a difference in what you can overwinter. A cottage on Vashon just behind the Seattle/Bainbridge ferry dock has had a tall conspicuous abutilon for years. Even though this is a north exposure, apparently the salt water is keeping it from freezing out. I think I noticed it was still there during a recent visit even after this last winter, although the proof will of course be if it is seen blooming and full again this summer. One of the better embothriums I've seen was growing right behind the beach along a quite inlet west of Tacoma. It was the first bit of plant life behind the cobbles and sand, and was leaning towards the water as though responding to its proximity.
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A picture is worth a thousand words, HU-659273525. But I'm glad your tree is doing well for you. They are one of my favorite BLEs although mine in zone 7a has been almost killed to the ground before and surely will be again someday, it came roaring back to life. I haven't seen any drunk birds yet, and in fact they seem to avoid mine. [Haha I now spot a mistake on that thread. The huge cyclamen blooming in September in Rye had to be something like C. graecum, not C. coum. Although now I seem to recall having a sidebar convo with someone on GOTE and finding out those cyclamen were some brobdingnagian hybrids that had just been introduced to the UK market, bred to make plants that looked a bit like C. persicum hybrids but were hardy enough for milder parts of NW Europe. Totally forget the name now, and I googled at the time to find they hadn't been brought to this side of the pond yet, as is so often the case. I'm still waiting for Clematis X 'Advent Bells', whose hybrid vigor might give it a better chance fighting my winters]
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akebia
18 years ago
I water my Japanese chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) in the summer, and it seems to appreciate it/need it. I'm in Western Washington, so I'm getting the same rain you're getting. 8-)
Embothrium
18 years ago
Chaste tree and other grayleaf plants would be less harmonious than others in similar shades of green to what you have listed as being in the planting already. I'd look into Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), California lilac (Ceanothus)--these come in both tall and low--green leaved species of rockrose (Cistus), green leaved cultivars of sunrose (Helianthemum), things like that. Except for the buckthorn these all have plenty of flower power. And you can get the buckthorn in a white variegated version that might be quite pleasing with the pinkish color of the 'Marina' flowers.

If you are near Seattle you can see Italian buckthorn in the hedge south of the parking at Good Shepherd Center (along with Viburnum tinus, another candidate to consider) or in the corner farthest from the entrance to Greenlake P.C.C. (near the black locust trees).
maro
Original Author
18 years ago
This is amazing! I posted this nearly TWO years ago, and just happened to look up arbutus 'Marina' on Google and saw my thread! Thanks for the comments.

Since then we had to move the 'Marina' and put it in the back. Western exposure, full sun. I'm not working on that area right now, but I like your suggestions, Ron. I love ceanothus. I looked up the variegated buckthorn and it looks right; perhaps a little big for the new spot, we'll see.

We're just now getting around to that spot in front, two years later, after it was torn up for sewer lines. I'm trying to work out something for the front that is a little different - very subdued. I'm trying to get my thoughts collected enough to post them for suggestions.

'Til then -
chrisnsd
15 years ago
Does anyone know how deep an arbutus marina will grow roots in the first 7 or so years? I have a circular planter I want to put one, but there is drainage line about 3-4' directly below the ground level of the planter. Will they go that deep? is there something I can line the bottom with to prevent root invasion?
Thanks!

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