Branches on trees never get any taller - the tree only grows up from that point. So if you can envision this tree being much bigger with those limbs still right there, decide if you are ok with that. Eventually I guess it would look like a multi-trunk tree (which is very common for river birch).

If you do decide to remove them, consider letting these be for a year while they help the plant get enough sun to grow and then prune them off next year.

It depends on the look you want. Personally I think birches can look good multi stemmed.

I will defer to the experts here but to me it looks as if you have planted the tree too shallowly. There is a visible dark colour still visible above ground which looks like the original planting level. There is also a root showing above ground. Personally, I'd get it out and replant deeper. But I am willing to be told I am wrong.

If you want to ensure a single-trunked tree, I'd wait a year or two and then, when its dormant, cut all except the desired trunk.

As far as planting depth, a little too shallow is better than too deep. Leave it alone, don't re-plant.

forget the apologies.. we like to teach and help ...

every leaf is a food making machine.. to make food to grow roots to get 'established' .... if you remove half of the 10 leaves there now.. you will retard it growth ...

perhaps after leaf fall.. after they have done their work ... i might remove one of the trunks ...

frankly.. there is NEVER a hurry to remove things from a tree .... and at the size and age of yours... you are way to aggressive .. anxious ...

leave it be..

now what really confuses me.. is the bigger trunk behind the two babes.. what is that all about ... is that one alive .... and leafed.. if so.. leave it all.. and at leaf drop.. remove these two suckers ... a better pic would help with that decision ...

its not the greatest mailorder plant i have seen... depending on what you paid for it.. if it was a bargain ... so be it.. but if you paid a lot for it... well ... you could have done better ...

ken

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.)

More pictures:

The longest stem has a distinct C curve to it. If I remove any of the stems, that's the one that'll go. The other two are pretty straight although the centre one is the straightest.

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IMO b. nigra is at its best when multi-trunked.

anyone????

is this grafted ???? or seed grown .... can birch be rooted????

if grafted.. i can NOT tell from the pix if the shoots are coming from below the graft ....

anyway .... get back to us with pix in september... then we can decide how well it did.. and what might be done ...

with annuals.. it all happens in one year .... we must be proactive ...

perennials...a few years ... there isnt that much of a hurry .... but there remains some level of being proactive ...

trees.. conifers... shrubs.. can live for centuries... there is simply .. 99.9% of the time .... no reason to be in a hurry to do anything .... i usually sum it up along the lines that i have to make my decision the day before i have to pay someone to bring in a cherrypicker to do the job.. which would mean for you.. you might want to do something about this.. sometime.. IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS ...

CRIMINNEY .... YOU JUST PLANTED IT.. LOL ... put down the pruners.. and step away ....

ken