Betula pendula
Silver birch
Common names: Warty birch, European white birch
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −40 °C
- Pruning
- Aug–Sep
- Flowering
- Apr–May
- Spacing
- 800 cm, rows 800 cm
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Percita at Flickr · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The silver birch, botanically Betula pendula, is a large, native deciduous tree with white bark that splits black at the base of the trunk with age. It grows 15 to 25 m tall, and its loose crown with thin, arching, drooping branches is 6 to 10 m wide. In April, yellow-brown catkins appear alongside fresh green foliage, and in autumn the small, rhombic leaves turn golden yellow. In the wild, it colonizes sandy areas, heaths, and clearings as a pioneer tree and is important for many insects and birds. In a large garden, it works as an open specimen tree whose pale bark stands out even in winter. It grows quickly but is relatively short-lived, reaching about 100 to 120 years. It is unsuited to small gardens, as it needs space on all sides. If you like the appearance but have little room, choose the cultivar ‘Youngii’, which has an umbrella-shaped weeping crown and stays noticeably smaller.
Care instructions
The silver birch needs a large garden, so plan before buying. Plant it in a full-sun location at least 8 m from houses, terraces, utility lines, and neighboring trees, because its roots spread shallowly and widely, can lift paving, and draw considerable water from neighboring plants. Lawns and beds beneath the crown suffer, while drought-tolerant perennials and bulbs cope better. Plant a young tree with a root ball in autumn or spring and secure it to a stake. In the first year, water regularly and thoroughly; later it becomes largely self-sufficient, though it may drop leaves early in hot, dry summers. Expect a lot of leaf litter in autumn and seedlings that germinate everywhere. Remove them early. Before planting, check with your municipality about boundary distances and whether a permit may later be required for felling.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringApr–May
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, well-drained, lean, loamy
The silver birch is a pioneer tree and copes with simple soils. It is happiest on light, free-draining, sandy to loamy soil that is slightly acidic and not too rich in nutrients. It also tolerates poor and dry spots. It dislikes heavy, permanently wet clay soils and compacted ground. Bear in mind that its roots draw a lot of water from the soil over a wide radius.
Feeding
Light feeder
The silver birch needs no fertiliser. As a pioneer tree it grows well on poor soils, and nutrient-rich soil does nothing for it. On very poor sand, a thin layer of mature compost in spring helps a young tree; later the fallen leaves provide the supply themselves.
Pruning
The silver birch needs no regular pruning. If you have to remove dead wood or broken and troublesome branches, do so in August or September. Do not prune in late winter and spring, because then the sap is rising and the cuts bleed heavily. Topping or drastic shortening ruins the shape of the tree. For work in the crown of a large tree, hire a professional tree care company.
Overwintering
The silver birch is fully hardy and survives frosts far below minus 30 degrees. You do not have to do anything. Mulch young trees with leaves in their first winter and tie them to a stake until they are firmly rooted. In autumn the birch drops its small leaves, which make good mulch under shrubs.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Grafting
The pure species of silver birch propagates easily from seed; it even sows itself in the garden. If you want to try, collect the ripe seed heads in late summer and scatter the seed on open, moist soil without covering it. The young trees grow quickly. Cultivars with a weeping crown are grafted onto a stem, which is a job for the nursery. For the garden, it is best to buy a small tree with a root ball or in a container.
For your garden
Grow Silver birch yourself
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