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White Birch

17 years ago

Hi all, new to the forum.

I want to plant a paper birch in my front yard. My house faces east. On the southeast side, there is partial sun. On the Northeast side, there is very little sun (mostly filtered sun) due to a huge maple tree on the other side of our sidewalk (city tree).

My concern is this - will the birch die because the Maple blocks most of the sun on the northeast side, and if I plant on the southeast side, will it still grow if the Maple umbrellas practically over the entire front yard? The Maple is probably 100 feet tall, and I've read that some trees throw off chemicals that kill other trees (to prevent other trees from growing in their proximity).

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Comments (4)

treeguy123
17 years ago
This is what I've came up with your description:
The south side of a house is always the hottest and the sunniest side in the northern hemisphere which the US is in, unless there are trees on the south side blocking the sun. Trees on the north side should not affect the light at all unless the branches come all the way across your font yard and all the way across your south and southeast side of the yard, which I don't think the maple stretches that huge distance by your description.

So a tree on the south east side of your yard (where I have the word summer in the picture below) should get plenty of light during the growing season. Form the east in the morning, to almost straight up in the afternoon, and to the western sky in the evening.

{{gwi:356085}}
wisconsitom
16 years ago
Unless it's like my silver maple-covers my back yard and two or three neighbors yards too! It's big. But Kim, if the spot where you want the birch gets at least 6 hrs. of direct sunlight per day, it will be fine. Incidentally, paper birch in its natural haunts is above all, a species that colonizes sites following forest fire. It needs mostly full sun, but also, a moist, cool root environment. Don't spare the mulch, nor hose if the summer is dry.

+oM
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IPM .. integrated pest management adherents would argue that using a hard core insecticide with no insect properly IDd on site ..... is some form of pollution .... i dnot know what to make of that ... being a cheap son of a gun.. i think its a waste of money ... until the bug is present .. and using it on a claimed resistant variety is getting close to loving it to death ... if it indicates other predilections to doing to much for a plant ... did you amend the planting hole.. did you throw in any fert.. have you fertd it in excess to lawn fert ... since you have one sublime lawn ... the tree would surely not need more ... i am just south of ann arbor.. z5 ... which means much further south of you.. and a zone warmer.. in theopry anyway.. lol .... my whitepire are leafed out as far as the top of your tree .. indicating to me.. your trees have flushed out extremely early this spring.... is there any chance that there has been cold damage??? ..it is possible with frost .. to affect only part of a plant ... many trees.. especially in the conifer world.. have droopy leaders like this.. and it straightens... but not my birch ... but i will watch to see if it happens.. when mine start actively growing ... frankly.. i would give it this summer to see what happens ... at least thru normal leaf out time.. and into sure warm weather ... i see no reason you would have to grind out the stump ... it should be rather easily dug out.. given its only been there 4 years ... btw.. on review.. last pic.. the bend from last year is gone??? .... if so.. im really wondering about excess nitro from lawn fert.. causing excessive fast growth .. are birch in maine this far leafed out today??? ken
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kimcoco
Original Author
16 years ago
TreeGuy, I love the map. The maple is located in front of the house more towards the southeast end but fans all the way over to the northeast side. In height, it towers over our house which is a two story on top of a slight hill. It is definitely cooler up front with the Maple tree. Lots of shade - our grass hardly grows, but enough sunlight for a tree in that particular spot. Just wondering if I'm wise to park the birch directly in front of the maple. I have no where else to put it.

I suppose my concern with this isn't so much the sunlight, but more with the fact that the birch will essentially be growing up into the canopy of the Maple, eventually. I'm wondering if the city will let me hire a tree service to trim the Maple back somewhat. I don't know if that's feasible, necessary, or even worthwhile. I just don't want to spend $500 just to have it die on me a few years later.

Will the birch tree compensate for lack of overhead "space" by leaning toward the sunlight? Only problem is that it will lean towards our driveway then.
wisconsitom
16 years ago
Yes the birch, or any tree, will definitely stretch towards light.

+oM

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