Organized experiments have revealed a tendency for plants in exposed pots to be adversely affected by cold temperatures approximately 20 degrees F. higher than those same kinds would be if established in the ground. So a plant that is hardy to 0 degrees F. in the ground may start to die back at around 20 degrees F. when in an unprotected pot. The first part of the plant to go is the new, small roots on the outside of the root mass, near the pot walls. A specimen that has been in the same container too long may have these roots pressed against the pot walls, in position to be readily affected.

One that is showing cold damage to the top is to the point where significant root reduction has probably occurred beforehand, unseen inside the pot, because the top is the most hardy part of the tree or shrub and the last to be killed.

At the moment 3 Oregon wholesalers are listing this plant. Perhaps one of them has them in larger sizes, that you can talk a retailer near you to order for you. Also some wholesale operations have expanded into retail sales in later years, maybe one or two of the three listed here have been doing this also.

http://nurseryguide.com/find_plants/arbutus_unedo

In this climate this plant is practically bullet-proof. You can run it over with a lawnmower. If I wanted A. unedo and this was what I could find, I'd get one. I've planted them in solid clay, planted root bound specimens, etc and I don't think that I've ever lost one. I can't speak to the cold issue, but otherwise I wouldn't care much what it looked like at planting. In two-three years it will be a different plant.

there is no reason NOT to plant a tree straight .. regardless of how its set in a pot ...

i mean i wouldnt do it on a 45 degree angle trunk ...

but if its some minor angle ... just set the root mass slightly at an angle.. so the tree is more upright ...

even easier if you bare root and plant in the proper season ...

ken

I bare rooted compacta in the summer in texas and it never missed a beat. I dont think youll regret getting one provided its hardy there. They are very pretty and the only plant in the genus that is relatively easy to cultivate. They grow well here in south central texas which is very hot, humid, and generally has shallow poor clay soil. Mine makes plenty of flowers but only a few fruits. Also, I did just have to battle a soft scale infestatio but I won't attribute that to a.weakness in the plant. I think my plant got weak because I had moved it to a shadier spot.

They all look pretty good - as Ken notes, you can plant the tree straight; just tilt it in the ground and stake it. If pressed I think that I like the first three the best, but you would be ok with any of them.

Sorry cannot agree - these are basically beat up scruffs that have apparently been left sitting out unprotected all winter, were almost certainly quite root-bound even before then, and may have been in same location for years - without being fertilized. I would not count on a specimen in such condition to develop well after planting out at all.

As Carl Whitcomb points out if a plant looks like it needs to be greened up then it is really deficient in nutrients.

Also if the puddling of water on the road where examples have been set to be photographed has also been occurring where the plants have been standing for months, if not years then they may be infested with water molds. Infection of container stock with water molds in production or sales yards is a significant problem nationally, with diligent sanitation being necessary on growing sites in humid areas in particular if punitive crop losses are not to occur.

Probably most similarly "sad plants" of various kinds I have put in the ground have never made good afterward, eventually been lost or given up on.

Dan would be much better off looking for other stock elsewhere that has either been kept in good condition locally the whole time or has been trucked in recently from California.

I would split the difference and say one cannot be sure without an examination of the root system. As Sara says, they are a resilient plant, but I think knotting and circling beyond a certain degree is insurmountable. If OP Dan does not have experiencing with such assessments and prior success with corrective measures - something I would hasten to add I feel like I'm just mastering after 20 years of gardening - find better ones.

Pot is bigger in proportion to top also.

Yes, that was a better purchase. You still must check the roots before planting!

I frequently remove most of the media before I plant a tree or shrub and correct any serious root problem.

No need for it to be perfectly straight. I think you did a good job it's a nice plant. In a couple years you'll love it.

Embothrium it took me a second to get it but I do get it.

Looks fine, nicely sited. And this is an A. unedo, for Pete's sake, not a Fagus. Even the sickliest potted specimens generally do fine. I've planted about 200 of these so have had a reasonable amount of experience. Most came from a nursery going out of business and they were in horrible shape. Now they are 15' tall and lovely.

It can take up that entire space, but no harm in planting something around it while it gets there!

Even the sickliest potted specimens generally do fine

Your personal experience in your California location does not disprove that others elsewhere could have planting of poor looking stock backfire. Suppose other "Sad Plants" being planted by another party were infested with water molds, weevils or even Honey Fungus (I have actually seen this in container production settings)? In addition to having a likelihood of failure with the specimens being planted they could now be introducing pathogens or pests to their planting sites.

All three of these conditions are prevalent on Heath Family plants up here, where heavy soils are often involved.

O.P. can greatly encourage growth and establishment of their new shrub by mulching it.

Nobody can beat me in the heavy soil category. I am a mile away from the largest adobe structure in the United States. As in the Alabama town in 'My Cousin Vinny', we're famous for our mud!

I've never seen a straight Arbutus.

There sure are a lot of them growing east of the coast Redwoods in California. My wife and I took a trip down to Fort Bragg and Mendocino last summer and also took the hiway west of Weaverville to the coast. Lots of Arbutus there and I saw no signs of disease. In contrast, most of our native Arbutus look like Hell.

Last picture looks like 'Marina'. Arbutus unedo produces a brown bark that is not as colorful and interesting as that of other Arbutus. Also in that planting position with nothing but the fence behind I wouldn't expect bare trunks to be desirable.

You can underplant with some lower growing shade tolerant shrubs if YOU think it necessary. Personally, I find the rough reddish bark of the lower stems/trunk to be appealing but it is ultimately your choice. Eventually, the canopy will broaden out and you will not see nearly as much of the fence as you do now

And I wouldn't do any pruning for at least a season. Wait and see what it looks like this time next year and we can revisit the issue.

That photo is unedo, not 'Marina'. Look at the bark texture in the larger photo. It's tricky because the color is off in the photo, making the bark appear very red. From the larger photo it is also evident that the leaves are unedo, not 'Marina'. It is amazing how similar they can look in photos, when it is almost impossible to confuse them in actuality. I might nip back that leader so that it is not so obviously heading left. You want to pick a few branches that will be your scaffold and work to ensure that they grow as you wish, trimming other branches or at least tipping them. For the first year or so I wouldn't do much at all; you want the root system to develop and the best was to do that is to 'feed' it with lots of leaf surface. These shrubs are incredibly forgiving of pruning, so you've chosen a good one to work with.

Sara do you mean trim the tallest header prior to where it starts leaning? Are you thinking like about where that red line is?

I'd cut it high enough so that it is still taller than the laterals (as long as you want it to remain the leader), which is probably a bit higher than your red line. I'd also reduce that double leader to one - pick the one that is straightest/strongest and remove the other one.

I bet you're a blast at parties!

People who know me personally do find me funny, actually. Also people I encounter at random during all the different interactions that occur as a part of modern life. And people I know in the nursery industry find me knowledgeable as well as funny. Also other nursery shoppers, who I often engage in spontaneous conversation about the plants we are looking at.

I'm sure you know you come across a little doom and gloom

Only when people don't want to get a complete picture, do want what they are trying to do to be subject to no constraints or limitations whatsoever. Me, I'd rather be empowered by being given all of the story. And avoid therefore making unanticipated mistakes.

Others would rather indulge in Shoot the Messenger.

Ultimately unsuitable shrubs can grow for 20 years or more and then fail, resulting in being back at the beginning after all that time has elapsed.

More top = more annual growth. If you want size ASAP you won't cut anything off.

That's fine. Hard to see from the photo, but make sure you don't have a double leader. If they are essentially the same height, tip the one that you don't want to be a leader. This will result in better structure.

I wouldn't worry about it right now - best to let it settle in. But watch that second 'leader' to make sure that it doesn't get too strong. Nipping it back, even a little bit, will slow it down.

Agree with Sara, let it use as much of the top as possible to feed root growth, plenty of time to shape it next year or the following.

I realize this thread is two years old, but I was curious if there were any updates here. I'm also looking for an arbutus unedo and I've only found one gallon size (Whitman Farms). Portland Nursery says they have a bigger one but it's a whopping $200. I'm trying to see if there are any other options. I've also thought about the Marina, but I've been told that one's not hardy in Portland, and it's also a significantly bigger tree. Would appreciate any advice on where to get one!

The nearest independent garden center here took delivery of a block of unedo in 3 or 5 gallon pots probably within the last few months. If you haven't phoned more than a few places down there try doing that.

Also the buyer at this same store says another shipment from California is coming next week, I'm thinking just maybe it will even include other choices in Arbutus. And maybe a few retailers in the Portland area will be getting visited by the same truck.

Whoever this particular delivery is coming from there is also the Monrovia system, where you order from them and pick up at a retailer of your choice. They are showing what the trade calls "Compacta" as being available this month:

https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/103/dwarf-strawberry-tree/

Thanks, I've called nearly 20 nurseries at this point and have not lucked out. Many of them have the "Compacta" variety, but that's a very small one. I'm looking for the standard size and am not finding it anywhere. Thanks

Look at the Monrovia link, what is presented to the general market here as supposedly being 'Compacta' is not "very small".

That you would call 20(!) retailers(?) there and not find any strawberry trees is a mystery, this is kind of a standard item in the PNW. And as I described fresh stock is present at an independent near me at this time, they have both the so-called "Compacta" and 'Marina'. (And possibly material being offered as the typical species (A. unedo) also, I would have to go back and look to be sure). So the situation down there is apparently not one of these plants not happening to be on the West Coast market at this time (even what are usually common plants can and do vary in availability from one time to the next).

Sometimes, demand just exceeds supply. This has been the case the last couple of years with larger sizes of west coast native Morella californica. You can find smaller ones but 5G or larger are proving to be very elusive.

Most western retail nurseries place orders in September for the next season's stock (delivery next spring). You might want to put feelers out at your favorite local nurseries for their buyers to be on the lookout for a larger sized arbutus. But realizing that landscape size specimens just may not be available due lack of large stock and the time involved to growing them to that size. Otherwise you may need to settle for a smaller plant and allow time and patience for growth. Or find some landscape nurseries that may have access to larger stock than what is common to the retail trade.

btw, a $200 price tag is not out of line for a good sized one.

@Embothrium....hm... I don't know if we're looking at different things or not but Monrovia's "Compacta" variety grows to 6-8ft tall, which in my opinion is a very small tree. The regular Arbutus Unedo grows more like 20ft, which is the size I need for my yard. Compacta and Marina are fairly easy to find, most places I called the Compacta in stock but not the regular unedo. I think some of the 20 nurseries I called have it as a product they stock, but just won't have any until next year, whereas I'm hoping to plant this fall.

@gardengal48 - I hear you! But the $200 tree is only 4ft tall (not sure how many gallons), so I can't justify paying that.

From the above link:

Average landscape size: Grows 6 to 8 ft. tall, 5 to 6 ft. wide in 10 years; slightly larger with age.

It's not of course going to grow 7' tall in 10 years and then never get more than slightly larger afterward - there is nothing about one of these being only 10 years old that makes it suddenly start growing in tiny increments. And there doesn't seem to have been a huge difference between what has often been presented as "Compacta" on the market here in the past and the typical species - you are going to have a long wait for 20' in either case.

It is true that recently I have seen some material that might in fact be more true to type 'Compacta'*, with small leaves, a small looking habit and a mere sprinkling of flowers. And the appearance of clonal uniformity - unlike the apparently sometimes seed raised material of the past, with mixed flower colors (some pink, some white) in the same blocks, other variation evident.

*As described by one print reference I have here, at any rate

Embothrium - I'm sorry if I'm not understanding, but I'm new to all things gardening. Are you saying that both the Compacta and regular will grow to the same size in 10 years? I guess what I'm saying is that long term, what I want is a 20 ft tree, would the Compacta get me there?

Today at a Seattle area independent garden center I saw 9 tree-form (lollipop) Arbutus unedo and 5 shrub-form "Compacta" in wooden boxes, both items for $495 each. The latter were in 24 in. boxes, the others same or somewhat larger.

They also had both items in 5 gallon pots, the "Compacta" much more dense and attractive.