Xela's Garden

Young's Weeping Birch

Genus: Betula.

Species: Betula pendula.

Planted ? Vistabile Front garden near ( to mask?) telegraph pole

In mid-December with the majority of its leaves gone its endearing three-inch catkins hang all about it's slender branches.

The catkins last all winter & then burst into fuller glory in the springtime, when the female flowers appear on the same branches, small & brown & almost fir-cone-like.

Young's Birch has no central leader & if permitted to retain it's fountaining disposition, & with some carefully considered annual pruning, it can remain artificially dwarfed in the six to twelve foot range.

In JanuaryOn the other hand, if a branch is selected as a leader & trained upward by staking it to a long bamboo pole, it will develop a sturdy upright trunk. In that case the tree can reach 45 feet & not inconceivably twice that.

Even in full leaf it is not as thickly leafed as most birches.

Some people worry that birches will get into water pipes, but this is not at all likely with the Young's weeping birch's shallow root system, & they are quite safe near concrete ponds.

Eminently trainable some people plant this tree in a smallish patio area since it can be restrained from outgrowing a space, though it certainly can develop a wide fountaining circumference if left to its own devices.

In November some of the autumn-yellow leaves still attached. Earlier in November it is much fuller of yellow leaves .

It holds its autumn leaves a surprisingly long while, plus it will be one of earliest trees to return to full leaf. It develops the brown blossoms quite early in spring, too; despite a subdued color the flowers are quite showy.

It has startling white bark with black fissures, appealing year-round. Some of the bark acquires orange-yellow hues at the height of winter .

Tortured TrunkBirches have a reputation for short life in gardens, a scant 15 to 25 years, & Young's weeping birch can be more delicate than average. But in fact birches can be considerably long-lived in ideal conditions which, alas, are not always easy to duplicate in yards. Though it likes good deep weekly waterings, it is by no means the bog tree some people seem to mistake it for, & its life is shortened in clay or in any poorly draining soil. Even just dead center in a flat yard is apt to drain insufficiently, so a hillside or near a cliff would be preferable.

Furthermore, it has a peculiar sunlight requirement, in that it does like a good deal of sun for its leaves, but not on its roots or below the crown. The root system is shallow & bakes under soil or sod if sunlight hits around the base of a birch. Weeping varieties attempt to shade their own root systems, but the Young's has less dense leafing than others, so cannot always protect its own roots sufficiently.

If the precise needs can be met, the tree can last 50 to 80 years. . Barring attack by birch-borers to which it is susceptible, it should serve the tree for a long life.

With its potential delicacy in mind when we first planted it, we spiked the soil with benificial fungus. Pruning is done in autumn or in summer; it's slender dangling twigs lose too much sap if trimmed in spring with the possibility of the branch tips drying out & becoming dead wood, so it is best not to prune in spring.

Excessive pruning (more than a fifth of the overall branching) or pruning in the wrong season can set this tree up for insect attacks. Keeping an eye on it for insect trouble is important, but if all other conditions are really favorable, & the tree lives without stress, it is not going to be the first birch the borers or the leafminers seek.

Birches by & large do not require much in the way of fertilizer & when fertilizing is done, it should be only for soil correction, & with slowest release feeds, or thin surface coatings of well-composted manure which is nearly inert hence not too rich for this tree's liking.

Source: www.paghat.com/youngscatkins.html

Photos of this plant

Reminders for this plant