Strawberry Tree

[gargar]

Does anybody have any experience strawberry tree (irish strawberry) Arbutus unedo. Mainly can you cut back to bare wood on branches or trunk and any success with leaf reduction? They seem to shoot readily at cuts and at the base. Any advice appreciated

[Josh]

No expirience with them as bonsai. We had a big one at a nursery I worked at years ago. It would shoot back on a branch cut back hard. What I do remember is the parrots coming in and eating the fruit on the tree and getting drunk. They would lie on the ground trying to stand up and keep falling over. It was so funny. They would look great as bonsai if they work.

[gargar]

Thanks Kidsandall, great story. They are big collected ones, beautful bases, lovely bark and tough. Powered on just after dug and potted. We used to eat the fruit as kids. I did read somewhere recently they were mildly toxic, possibly hallucogenic. Parrots may have been tripping rather than drunk. Dont they know thats against the law.

[craigw60]

Hi Gargar, Arbutus are on the weed list here in the dandenongs and I have dug 3 reasonable sized trees in a pretty rough fashion and all of them have survived and flourished. They shoot back from very old wood and seem to make new roots from any part of the trunk which is buried so I would say they are indestructible. With regards to leaf reduction I haven't really started working on them yet. I have seen a couple of nice ones on IBC which were collected in eastern europe.
Craigw

[Booga]

I just read this

Effects:
Signs and symptoms;
. Incoordination, wandering,
. Gastric pain.
. In man, affects the motor nerves, produces mental confusion, and permanent insanity.

Man where can I find them

[LLK]

They seem to self-seed or bird-seed easily, as we have dug quite a few here on the outskirts of Canberra. I have a smallish one with an interesting trunk. It only sits in the "tolerated" section, as I can't get the leaves to reduce. A couple of people have really big sizes with beautiful trunks, and then the leaf size is more in proportion. Anyway, it's no worse than on many figs or Lillypillies.

. In man, affects the motor nerves, produces mental confusion, and permanent insanity.
Man where can I find them

There is a very big Arbutus growing in front of the Hyatt Heritage Hotel here. Why not visit our show and the tree at the same time?

Lisa

[gargar]

Thanks very much Craig and Lisa. Booga, That explains a lot, thanks for clearing that up. Dont remember much of my childhood...

[bodhidharma]

I am developing some now, one very large collected and some smaller ones. They do everything right except wiring, they are brittle so you have to get them early. The wire scars stay for a long time to so beware. You can defoliate but the leaves dont reduce much. Looks good in flower.