kinda hard without a pic ...

but why not have just to one taken down to ground level

and then be methodical in insuring it does not sucker back up ...

this might buy you a few more years ...

but usually results.. in wishing .. in a few years.. that you hadnt wasted the money.. instead, sucking it up.. and removing it as bboy suggests ...

NEVER!!!! ... EVER!!! ... top a tree.. for any reason ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: and here are a few million reasons why ... 7 hundred and ninety three million.. to be presice.. lol ..

Birch don't like to be cut into at all, I'd expect the crown of one partly cut to the ground to rot out - possibly resulting in the remaining trunks going over at some point.

I have 40 year old river birches here, and I always show them to visitors so they NEVER plant a river birch near their house. They get huge. Tall. Very Wide. They rain branches down at all times of the year. If I were you, I would take it out.

If you're having someone do the work might as well cut them down and be done with it and replant with something smaller.
If you feel like experimenting, cut them down completely and let the sprouts grow up for a new clump. They'll come up quickly from the roots and should look decent in three or four years.... But soon enough you'll have the same problem you're facing now due to their location.

Thanks everyone for the input....I love the tree and the shade it provides to our patio and actually only one trunk is the one we worry about as it is only about a foot away from the top of our brick fireplace chimney. I might do as ken Adrian suggested....cut that one trunk down to ground and trim back the other two and see how it goes. That tree has been through a number of really bad storms.....even the renowned ice storm in Kentucky in 2010. All of our oak trees across the back of our lot had tremendous amounts of broken limbs but the birch survived with minimal damage.....go figure. We flew out of Nashville last spring and the Raddison Hotel we stayed overnight in had a row of about six large birches in front that someone has taken down to nothing but the trunks remaining. I think I will call down there and ask them if they survived and maybe get someone to email me a picture. We did not plant this tree and cannot imagine anyone else planting one this close, but it is what it is.........thanks again.

On the trunk that would remain, realize that if it is pruned back this spring it will "bleed" profusely and depending on where the cuts are made would drip on the patio? This will not hurt the tree but can be messy until the tree comes into leaf.

hortster

I have a similar situation at my house. An arborist told me that the trunks can be cabled together to keep them more stable. There are two types of cabling: one that bores holes directly into the tree to attach the cable and another, the European method, where the cable goes around the trunk. There is a national company called Save A Tree which provides free consultations and you might check to see if there is one in your area.

I just wanted to update my previous comment. After getting estimates on the river birch and discussing options with four different tree companies (and learning that cabling requires periodic maintenance), I decided against cabling. I had the tree thinned throughout (no reduction of height) and hope it will work well. Save a Tree recommend Cambistat but I decided against that and went with a different company.

We just had two huge (60-70 feet tall) multi-trunk 29-year old river birches removed as they had reached the end of their life span, had very few leaves left on them and were dropping large branches. What can we do to give both stumps, each fully 3 feet in diameter about 7 inches above ground level, the best chance of sprouting new shoots that could grow into trees? Should we seal the surface of the stumps? If so, with what? Or should we just let them be and see what nature does with them? Is fertilizing a good idea?

What are the chances that such new shoots can grow into trees given that our soil is at the edge of a forest that supports many huge trees in northern Virginia, but a good 200 feet from a nearby fast running creek?

I wouldn't trust a shoot growing from an old stump that big. Too big a risk of decay making its way into the "new" tree.

I disagree with this^. Coppiced trees are a normal part of logging of some sun-loving species, usually oaks, but the idea that the new trunk sprouts will somehow be more prone to decay is not supported by the evidence.

BTW, throughout this convo, it has been assumed-I think-that all three main stems of this and other "clump birch" are somehow the same tree. Sorry to say, they are not. Somewhere back in time, at a nursery, three (or whatever number) individual plants were simply crammed together inside a single pot to achieve this effect. Trust me, I used to have to participate in this nonsense back in the day. There is nothing "natural" about a clump birch, that having been achieved by the human touch.

But again, the stump sprouts which arise from a coppiced tree will do just fine, at least for some time.

+oM

Along the same lines of what Tom said, most woodlands where fire or logging went through are filled with multi-stem oaks, many of which are huge and healthy. I think some of the oldest trees in Great Britain are believed to be coppiced ones, the roots remain but the tops are cut and regenerate every few years for hundreds and possibly thousands of years.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6zpgub

Here's a group of sycamore trees sprouting out of an old stump which looked to be about three feet across. They appear perfectly healthy although the stump is well rotted and nearly gone.

leave it alone dont be a tree butcher plants have feelings. to what would you think if it cut your arms off? lol

jbug1960 - Would you mind providing an update?? I am facing a very similar situation and considering cutting back one of 3 river birch trunks because of it's proximity to our house. I'd rather not take the whole tree down, but I'm realizing that the tree is really too close now that it has reached a mature (huge) size. Did you cut down one trunk? Did you prune back others? I would love to hear your feedback and even see a photo if you are up for it.

Thanks!

In the first place, it should be noted that the river birches are not recommended plants for planting near home, on the other hand it would be best to provide a photo to give more specific help.

Your comment is from 2014, so I think you have already solved your problem. For those who arrive here with a similar doubt I leave this article on how to trim a river birch.

Birches are not oaks and sycamores (Platanus). The latter in particular are traditional favorites for pollarding because of their exceptional tolerance for it.

I know most of these comments are from a while back, but I would love any advice. I have 3 clumps of 3 river birch trees. A landscaper (16 years ago) suggested these (and I didn't argue since I love the bark and look) and planted them about 10 feet from our screened porch and patio on a small hillside. They love it where they are, but in the last few years they have become HUGE. They provide great shade, but the clean-up of the debris they produce is not worth it. My husband and I want to take out at least 1 (there is one in each grouping that is really leaning over our roof and huge) from each clump. Would this be okay? Would we take it down to the stump? Can we cut the others back significantly, too? I would love any and all suggestions except to leave them as is. I am sweeping and picking up tons of small branches off of our patio every single afternoon.

Has anyone removed one of the trees from a 3 tree river birch clump? If so, was it fine? Did you wish you had all 3 removed? Are the other 2 trees surviving?