Subject: re: river birch

From: [email-masked] (CLNichols)
Date: 22 Mar 1995 20:22:39 -0500

Mark Stephens asked:

>Betula maximowicziana 'Hybrid' (Monarch Birch)
>Betula platyphylla 'Whitespire' (Whitespire Birch)

>Does anyone have any experience with any of the trees?  I would
>like to hear about pest problems, exposure, how many trunks,
>how old, etc.

>I have read a lot about the river birch in 'Native Trees, Shrubs,
>and Vines for Urban and Rural America' - Hightshoe.  How do the
>other birches compare?  Is the Heritage cultivar of River Birch
>better?

>We live in Fairfield OH, a burb north of Cincinnati.  Zone 5 (-20)

I planted a small river birch in my back yard about 10 years ago and now
it is about twice as tall as my one story house with about a 4 to 5 foot
diameter trunk, actually it is 3 trunked.  When it was young it blocked
use of the small back yard since its branches went out horizontally.  But
as it grew taller I could prune off the offending branches and open up the
yard.  The high up branches still tend to droop down and require yearly
trimming to keep them out of the way.

The young branches and trunks are a gray color.  As they mature the bark
peels back exposing a creamy orangey soft bark.  I find it the texture
attractive, however when my parents visited me they commented that the
tree looked sick.  (They also criticized a lot of other stuff too, so take
that with a grain of salt.)

Now at what seems to me to be a mature size the tree provides wonderful
light airy shade for my backyard patio.  I did have the three trunks wired
together (high up in the foliage and not noticeable) to prevent splitting
off during a high wind.  Necessary?  Don't know but the tree people seemed
to think so.  The tree behaves nicely in a breeze.  I have had no problem
with insects or disease and the leaves are small enough to not be much of
a raking nuisance.

Cindy Nichols
Indianapolis, zone 5