If this is a large tree that poses a risk of falling on someone or something, it would be best to have a certified arborist come out and give you a professional opinion. If anyone tells you to top the tree get another opinion!

It's hard to say without seeing pictures. I live in a rural windy area and several of my trees are leaners. I live with the Charlie Brown trees and have come to appreciate them. But a leaner 1/2 acre from the house is much different than a landscape tree in your yard. I look forward to the pictures.
Barb

by definition.. clumps lean ... the exterior ones.. trying to grow out of the canopy of the central ...

that said... a pic is requisite to see what yours are doing

we will also need info regarding other mature trees in the area.. how much sun do your get and when.. full sun????

ken

here,,are,,pictures,,obviously,,being,,gusted,,by,,wind,,in,,the,,first,,one,,(tree,,is,,about,,15feet,,tall),,If,,you,,click,,the,,photos,,you,,will,,get,,a,,bigger,,version

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I would hardly call that a tall river birch! Were you expecting a dwarf shrub?

Anyway, that is clearly a young tree that can still be corrected. There are several options - including staking to straighten the leaning stem, removing that stem altogether or just leaving it alone - which is what I would do if it were my tree.

second pic... the right.. basically straight up ..

sans wind.. is the left basically the same???

i think i see a third trunk.. but i can see a third canopy ...

i cant conceptualize the situation .. without wind ...

are you making fun of me with commas ???? ,,,,??? ... lol

ken

Ken is a keyboard stutter. Might as well learn to live with it.

Staking is a personal thing. Everybody has their own opinion. I live in very windy condition so I have to stake trees anyway not so to get stuck leaning to the side. I have one tree that is leaning to the side and it kind bugs me but I suppose it will eventually disappear if that ever happens. At my mom's with tall old trees everywhere to break up winds, staking is not required. It just depends...

LOL,,about,,the,,tall,,tree
(sorry,,my,,spacebar,,is,,broken,,on,,my,,keyboard!!)
I,,call,,it,,tall,,because,,it,,is,,so,,skinny,,compared,,to,,its,,18,,foot,,height
anyhow,,there,,are,,definitely,,3,,stems,,in,,the,,2nd,,picture,,if,,hit,,the,,zoom,,key,,you,,will,,see,,2,,stems,,are,,parallel,,to,,each,,other,,both,,leaning!
I,,fixed,,some,,of,,the,lean,,my,,cutting,,back,,a,,few,,branches,,to,,reduce,,weight,,on,,that,,side.,,I,,think,,I'll,,go,,with,,the,,staking.,,
But,,it,,won't,,fix,,,the,,problem,,of,,branches,,on,,the,,windward,side,,getting,,winter-wind,,burn,,and,,dying.,,I'm,,not,,transplanting,,it.

Happy Memorial Day to all! I am a novice gardener and new to the gardenweb. I too have a leaning river birch. It was planted last year. The tree has small diameter trunks that make it looks so frail when the wind blows or during a heavy rainfall. Around March, I staked it. How long should I leave it that way? I don't want to hinder the thickening of the trunk.

This may be a little unorthodox but I would tie a band (soft flat rope) around the stems about 4 or 5 feet up so that the stems are at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock. Or even closer together. When the stems are stong enough to remain at that position and don't bend back down, then it's time to remove the band. I think that is your only hope with these multistemmed nursery monstrosities.

What cultivar of river birch is your tree?

There are some cultivars, like 'Heritage' river birch that grow extremely fast before even the roots can become well established.

Such river birch trees generally show signs of needing to be staked when the winds cause the trunks to lean back and forth so far that their tiny feeder roots keep getting torn away. If that is damage which does begin to show on your tree; usually it is first seen by the tree's leaves, then the tree definately will need to be staked. Once the rootball gets better established that kind of damage should not occur, especially if at that time you begin to gradually remove the stakes in a manner which lets your tree's trunks adjust to withstanding such winds.

But anyone who attempts to stake such birch trees also should consider that the tree's trunks will need to thicken. To help the trunks accomplish that, just make certain that the way you stake each trunk ensures that they can still blow within a tollerance range which would not put stress on the rootball of the tree.

Thanks for the info. The tree came from Lowe's. The plant identification label by Green Valley Growers does not specify a particular cultivar. Two of the trunks are standing pretty erect but the third one is leaning to about 3 or 4 o'clock (imagining 6 o'clock is the ground) The tree could have lost some footing during the spring when heavy rain water pools in that area and the roots become saturated. The tree looks otherwise healthy for now. I think staking is the way to go but allow room for trunk growth.