Arbutus unedo...the strawberry tree -any advice?

[Nicos]

Anyone grown this?
i have one on order for delivery in a couple of weeks.

looks like I can fulfill most of the criteria it requires (although reading some sites do suggest not exposed nor less than -15C )
it'll be a ' survival of the fittest' moment again as with most of my gardening techniques

I saw one in a friend's garden many moons ago and had my eye on one since then ( they steeped the fruit in alcohol)

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/1473/A...-unedo/Details

I've read this thread....
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ml#post1518892

any other tips????

[Nick_The_Greek]

Hello Nicos, I myself haven't grown it, but I have friend that have. I believe that it likes good sun and drainage, would benefit from very little competition from ground cover, so on a south facing wall and well mulched with bark. I would take note of their eventual size should you be successful. I have seen them get big.

Nick

[Nicos]

Thanks!
The plan is to put it in the middle of an exposed field so size won't matter but the winds might.
We have put aside large areas of the grass for rewilding so this would create a bit of shade in the middle.
It'll deffo get full sun and the soil is slightly acidic, well drained sandy soil which used to be cow pasture so it's pretty lush.

Good call re the mulching.
Will also give it a decent stake against the strong SW winds.
I'm just hoping we don't get -18C again otherwise it'll need wrapping ?
We get temps of up to 40C in the summer so I think it'll be fine with that.

[Nick_The_Greek]

Yes staking is vital on a exposed site, I believe that they are from australia* so should like the heat, but might have shallow roots. Not sure about the wrapping but I guess if you do it cannot hurt... I think restricting it through removal of vertical growth once at the desired height is reached might help. Might be pure conjecture but i imagine that you could approach treating the tree as if it was a "bay" laurel as I have seen them treated in similiar ways. One final thing on the fruit, they can be tasty but can cause stomach irritation if consumed in any significant amount.

*After a quick research of the origin they are Mediterranean

[Nicos]

Great!!!
Thanks for that-I'm feeling really excited about it now.
I already have a bay which I keep pruned to restrict its height, so hopefully I can do that at the same time....tootles off to check.....

[Nicos]

Spring.
As it has it's ripe fruit and flowers on the branch at the same time Ithink it's probably best to selectively prune out half the branches each year

[ameno]

There's one in a park near me, and it fruits every year, so I'd have thought you'd be fine in France.

The one piece of advice I would give is the fruit aren't really for eating. They might technically be edible, but the taste is bland and insipid, and the texture gritty.
The latin name "unedo" means "I eat one". There's a reason for that.

[Nicos]

Good for the birds then?...win win!

[veggiechicken]

Spring.
As it has it's ripe fruit and flowers on the branch at the same time Ithink it's probably best to selectively prune out half the branches each year

This site says "Do not prune" https://www.pippintrees.co.uk/trees/.../arbutus-unedo