The seeds are going much faster then I thought they would, as of now I have 3 packs or birch seed left, and 1 pack of Autumn Blaze Maple, and 2 sugar maple seeds. See my trade list if there is anything else you want instead. Skylar

Perhaps galls from very small insects. If so, cosmetic "problem" rather than damaging.

I don't know about your utility companies, but here, the electric co-op can cut down or trim back any plant material that encroaches into an area 15' around the line (their right of way), and they only come through every few years so can be quite aggressive. I think you may well be safer moving it. Since it is already stressed, I think I would wait until it has lost all its leaves and gone dormant, probably before the other trees around you have lost their leaves. Waiting will allow the remaining existing leaves to continue to feed the roots, until they fall off for the winter. Once they are all off, the roots will continue to grow, but moving will be less stressful for the birch. I would dig the new hole in advance, wrap the root ball in a tarp, and move it by the tarp, NOT by the trunks. If you yourselves aren't young and strong, see if you can recruit friends or friend's husky boys - it WILL be heavy to lift out of the existing hole. Water well the day before you plan to move it - the root ball will be heavy, but the roots will be hydrated. Since you want to move it, you can mulch in a small circle while you are waiting, and move the mulch to the new location, or decide to mulch only after it has been moved. You will have a hole from the present position, but can use the excess soil from the new hole, and the grass sods to fill it in and cover it over - a little grass seed will fill it in nicely. One other thing that wasn't mentioned before - make sure the trunk flares - where the trunks and the roots divide - are at ground level. You do NOT want to bury this. If you see only a straight trunk going down into the soil, then brush off soil while the tree is out of the ground, until the trunk flares are clearly visible. Make sure this is sitting at or a little above ground level when you replant the tree. If you didn't remove all the wrappings and any wire that was around the root ball when it was planted the first time, do so now. Slightly rough up the sides of the root ball, if it isn't already rough, and if you see any largish roots that are growing back into the root ball or around the root ball, aim them out into the hole - this will prevent them from "strangling" the tree 5-10 years down the road. If they are too large to aim out, cut them where they bend - the tree can grow new ones out into the surrounding soil. It may be, from the stress, that it will start to sprout from the roots, come next spring. I would rub these sprouts off as soon as you see them - cutting them may just encourage them to branch. If you get sprouts on the trunks, considering the present condition of the tree, I would leave them until the end of the summer - the more leaves the tree has, the stronger the roots will be. You can trim them off after the leaves fall. If, by any chance, one of the trunks does die, and you want a 4-trunk tree, you can let the best-placed root sprout grow up to replace it - cut the dying one out as soon as you are sure it is dead. If the look is acceptable to you, you can keep the birch as a 3-trunk tree, and not let any of the root shoots grow, as well. The tree may look a little lop-sided for a couple of years, but with good watering, the new shoot should grow up quickly and match the rest in a few years. Hope this isn't too much info for you! Good luck.

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