Like a lot of Southerners who admire the beautiful white-barked birches of the North, I've often wondered whether or not someone might develop one that would be heat tolerant and healthy in our soils. Below is some additional info and photos on then heat-tolerant, white barked birch, "Whit XXV," mentioned above ("City Slicker"), along with some other interesting info. Close up bark photo of "Whit XXV" from forum (scroll to very bottom or til you see the photo): Source to acquire the same, with clickable/zoomable photo (right side of page): Another source and photo: This link explains how the "City Slicker" birch was developed: And here is a link to a white-barked birch (not River Birch) that says it will grow in zones 4-9, although I'm quite dubious of such a claim: Lastly, NC State University has been experimenting with the grafting of various white-barked birches onto the rootstock of various other birches - including River Birch and European White Birch. The implications for developing a heat-resistant, white-barked birch are encouraging: Hope the info above presents a white birch option for the heat of Southern landscapes. Certainly it is intriguing to those of us who love the white birches of the North. Of course, every gardener lusts for plants that do well in zones above or below him. For me, it is so often those that thrive in colder areas. Philip This post was edited by philipthefirst on Wed, Dec 26, 12 at 22:00

There are two basic causes for surface roots. One is lack of oxygen at lower soil depths. While this does not seem likely in sandy soil, it would occur in areas where a relatively thin layer of sandy topsoil was added over compacted subsoil, especially clay. This is far more common than is usually supposed especially in new construction/developments. The second cause is lack of water at lower soil depths as Mr. Adrian suggests. If shallow surface water is all the tree receives either because of drought, lawn irrigation or lack of water holding humus content at lower soil depths, the roots will be at the surface where the water is.

Thanks so much for all the help. I guess the area isn't really flooded most of the time. Neither tree will be located in the swale directly (that's a violation of the swale law or some such thing). There may be a couple days in which it stays particularly soggy and mushy with some visible surface water, but mored puddled than pond like. Most of the time it's just very damp. There can be some afternoons between July and September in which it almost qualifies as dry on the surface when it's really hot here. However, all yards drain to through mine, and with two water happy neighbors, there is always some moisture. I also have new neighbors since November, and I've no idea what their water habits will be. I did just lose a red maple sapling (Arbor Day twig - free with order) from that area. It broke in half this winter, and it's dead, dead, dead. I had considered putting the birch some place else, and recently decided to put it where the Maple was now that I realize just how moist that area stays, and that the other location does not get nearly the same water and drains much better. I expect I will go ahead with the Birch in site B, closer to the house and deck because I love the graceful look and interesting bark. The dappled shade it provides will be perfect, and the quick growth is appreciated. I'd rather put the slower growing, and potentially larger(? maybe denser is more accurate) cypress towards the rear of our property, more as a background tree. Thanks again. I really appreciate the feedback so quickly. I'm diligent in my research, but still lack confidence. Especially since the red maple worked out so poorly.

Aggressive... yes. I guess I am. Perhaps I should mention that prior to my current newbie attempts to turn a sterile acre of weed infested grass into a garden with interest and character, my entire experience of growing trees from saplings was with bonsai. I'm absolutely okay with a multi-trunked river birch. My neighbour across the road has a gorgeous specimen, that's about 15 years old. I'm just unsure of whether this little sapling has the potential to be a good multi-trunked tree or if it'd be better off with a single trunk. The tree itself came from Shooting Star in KY and was $12 plus shipping (I got some other trees at the same time). I'm more than happy to take some additional pictures. The tot just went down for his nap and it's nice and clouded out there, so now would probably be a good time. As for planting depth, that's how it arrived. Maybe the nursery repotted it just prior to sending it to me? Certainly the soil it was potted in was very loose. I will concede that maybe some fell off as I was putting in the hole but I didn't pull any soil off it. :) (No offense taken, just explaining what I did.)