Trailing Arbutus

Size, growth and what to expect

Trailing arbutus grows slowly even in good conditions, and our growth estimator treats it as slow. It makes a creeping mat only 2 to 6 inches high, its stems trailing up to 20 inches and its patches up to 2 feet across. The leathery, evergreen leaves are oval, 2 to 4 inches long, with stiff, rusty hairs along the edges. Plants usually begin to flower at about 3 years.

Clusters of half-inch, trumpet-shaped flowers, pink to white and sweetly spicy, open from February to May, often before the trees leaf out. Fleshy, whitish capsules like small raspberries ripen in June and July and split to show tiny brown seeds in a white pulp.

It grows wild from Newfoundland and Manitoba south to Florida and Mississippi. Its home is moist to dry pine or hardwood woods and clearings, on sandy, rocky or peaty soil. It is rare in Florida, where it grows only in the west of the state, and it has not been seen in Illinois since the late 1800s.

How to grow Trailing Arbutus

Trailing arbutus is a creeping evergreen for part shade or light shade, on an open spot where fallen leaves will not smother it. It wants a well-drained, acid soil, sandy to rocky, with some leaf mold, that stays moist. It is very difficult to establish, since it resents disturbance and fails in drought or flood. Set plants 2 feet apart and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the root ball and no deeper, without breaking up the roots. It needs a partner fungus on its roots to thrive, and soil from around healthy trailing arbutus carries the fungus. Never dig plants from the wild, since moved plants nearly always die. For the best germination, chill the damp seed in the refrigerator for 30 days first. Sow the tiny seed on the surface of a damp mix of acid soil, sand and peat, under glass or plastic to keep it humid. Seedlings come up over three to nine weeks, most within a month.

Water weekly through the first two summers, and never let the ground dry out. Keep fallen leaves from piling over the mat. Do not hoe or dig around it, since it will not stand disturbance.

Plants are usually male or female, though a few bear flowers with both parts, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. Bees and butterflies visit the fragrant flowers, and it is a host plant of the hoary elfin butterfly. Small game sometimes eat the fleshy fruit.