Cutleaf Weeping Birch

I am thinking of planting a Cutleaf Weeping Birch (Betula Pendula) this spring. These are such beautiful trees. I am going to plant it on the northeast corner of my lawn. My house is oriented north to south. Any suggestions or comments from people who have had or have these trees?

WyGardener,
I killed three cutleaf weeping birches as a hobby about 20 yrs ago LOL. I would love to have another one but I don't want to spend the $ just to have it die again. I asked someone at the Home and Garden Show (in Denver) a couple of weeks ago and he advised me that Denver just doesn't get enough water to sustain them. I have seen them around town but not to many. Because we are in the same zone and not too far away geo., I can't wait to see what the experts on DG have to say. I also love them and am sick of the same old trees and want something unique. I am wondering if additional soil prep. might help. In my youth I had a tendency to just dig holes and stick my poor plants/trees in them.
Christine

Betula pendula 'Gracilis', 'Tristis' and 'Youngii' are popular landscape trees in Calgary, Alberta. It's a colder zone there (zone 3) and I would expect it to be equally as dry as Colorado or Wyoming and the soil is probably equally alkaline, so I'm surprised that it would have any problems. They are suppose to be more drought tolerant than Paper Birch. They do prefer more acidic soil over alkaline so that might be a consideration. On the side, they do quite well in Newfoundland (zone 5, acidic and wet) if sleet storms don't break off their tops!

If you are in the range of bronze birch borer, don't waste your time and money. Cutleaf weeping birch is derived from a boreal/alpine species from Europe with ZERO resistance to the American borer, especially in areas with hot summers.

But if you must, then plant it in light or loosened soil where the roots will be shaded while the top is in the sun, mulch a very wide (20-foot?) area around it, and water it heavily all summer. You might coax a few more years out of it before it croaks.

Better idea IMHO: plant some beautiful but underused native trees that will prosper for you. The selection will depend upon what's growing in your neighborhood and what's available at the good (small, specialty) nurseries in Wyoming.

Guy S.

I am planning on planting one where it will be shaded (the roots and tree) during the heat of the day and am going to apply a systemic insecticide in the spring (that will last a full year) so that I can minimize the ability of a borer to attack the tree. I plan on improving the soil around where I'll plant the tree, mulching it, and since it was suggested maybe slightly acidify the soil. Also, I plan to water it well in the winter atleast two or three times (especially the first 5 years). I think that is the problem here, roundshm, I have done some research on these trees and one of the biggest things for its survival is location and water during the winter. Our winters are extremely dry, and when this tree is young it will require more water because of its limited root system. Most trees in our region require minimal watering in the winter and let's face it: most people don't even water their trees in the winter on the front range. This tree is different and won't follow that rule. So, when someone doesn't water the tree (especially when young) it dies simply from the fact or is left extremely stressed and is then attacked by the bronze birch borer. Regular watering, some soil conditioning (depending on your soil, which I guess is clay like here), fertilization (especially in the spring), and insect protection should allow us to keep this tree alive for the maximum time possible. It is also important to follow appropriate pruning practices (which is mainly that you don't prune at all), as they are different for this tree. You just have to be willing to put some extra time into its care. I mean think about it--to save it in the winter would just take a couple hours of your time--and regular care in the summer. I think it would be worth it.

P.S.--Roundshm, did my reply possibly identify why you lost those trees?

And Todd, our winters are probably similar besides the amount of moisture we recieve, most of it comes late in the fall and early in the spring, leaving the months of December-February very dry on even an average year, during those months the precipitation, for example, this year has only been (Dec 1-now) .69" which is .30" below normal (I am sure down in Denver they're about the same). April-August are our wettest months, when we recieve most of our precipitation. Note that this is going to be planted on my lawn, which recieves watering every two to three days in the growing season.

This message was edited Feb 9, 2005 4:43 PM

WyGardener
I murdered them with thirst. The ignorance of youth. Based on your research I am going to try again. They are such loverly trees and I don't mind a little babysitting. As far as I'm concerned we live in a high plains desert. I water everything outside about every six weeks, including my poor lawn. Do you have a mail order recomendation? I looked for them at my local nursery last summer and couldn't find one. I didn't look hard because I wasn't ready to purchase. Thanks for your advice.
Roundshm

I don't know about the mail order, I am looking in Fort Collins and am thinking of buying one there. I have looked at forestfarm and while it looks tempting and I'm sure their trees are good quality I want larger than 4-5 feet. You mean you water every six weeks in the winter right? There has to be somewhere in the Metro Area that you can find a tree. Try looking in the yellow pages and calling them up sometime. I called The Fort Collins Nursery (that's what it's called) and they said they have some in storage and will "probably" get some shipped in this spring. However, there are atleast two other large nurseries in Fort Collins that I plan on calling tommarrow (Bath and Fossil Creek). They said that the earliest would be March if not early april to plant them (and as warm as its been, maybe March). I want to see if I can go and get one now though so I will have it on hand, and I could dig a hole somewhere where the ground isn't frozen and store it there before planting in Early-Mid April (we are a few weeks behind on trees and plants coming out of dormancy than Denver). That way I wouldn't have to wait if I have the ability to get one now in case we do have an early spring and they leaf out. One of the good sites I found on birch trees was located here:

http://gardenline.usask.ca/trees/birch2.html

This place is in Saskatchewan but still has good information. It has been nice collaberating with you.

This message was edited Feb 11, 2005 6:14 PM

Also I have one thing to add, or an edit so to speak, about insect control. What I have read is that the best way to prevent this borer from invading your tree is proper care. I will likely not apply anything on it but will try to take the best care of it and watch it for ANY insect problems, because they could lead to further stress which would then allow for the bronze birch borer to attack it. Please let me know of any more questions you may have, I am kind of excited about getting one of these.

One thing comes to mind - cutleaf or not - those birch catkins, when they disintegrate, can be a nuisance for water feature pump screens in certain cases.

Any ponds underneath?

I like that tree though. Usually more open looking than straight European white birch.

Not a problem--not too many ponds here (unless they are man-made).