Should I remove this River Birch?
cyndymn
3 years ago
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Comments (19)
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River Birch with 5 Leaders - Should I Prune Any?
Comments (9)I would have called this 5 trunks as I tend to think of leaders as starting part way up a trunk where damage has eliminated the top of the main growth stem. Regardless, often river birch grow as multi-trunked trees. You could cut back to the three healthiest or leave it as is if the trunks and branches aren't too thick and crossing/rubbing, but I think that if you take it to one trunk from 5 you will end up with lots of suckers since you have removed so much of the canopy at once. I think generally that the number of trunks is largely an aesthetic choice for this species. I live next to what used to be a wholesale nursery, and they deliberately grew multi-trunked birches. Where I work there is a bed of several multi-trunked river birch that is lovely, with a broad canopy of dappled shade....See MoreDo i need to water weeping river birch in winter?
Comments (11)Midorit, unfortunately the answers are not super exact. In general with new transplants over the winter if we somehow have a dry week I start fingering their dirt to check on their moisture levels. Your climate may vary so it is best to just check. Think of tree transplant survival in terms of percentages. If you plant 100 just above bare root size and do everything perfectly maybe 95% will make it IF they were handled right at the nursery and IF it is a transplant friendly species. Then go from there based on climate and your ability to keep deer away. We just can't micro-manage the situation to know more for each exact transplant.....I have been watching Star Trek recently, we need tri-corders to see underground!...See MoreDura Heat River Birch - new purchase, should I separate stems?
Comments (8)They usually are three separate trees...the typical way of doing this is to stick three saplings in the same pot. This looks awesome when the tree is young. No idea what it does in the long run, but probably doesn't maximize the trees life expectancy. I've seen old single specimens of River Birch...they look fine. They might look kind of sad and lonely when the tree is small. If you ARE going to separate them, I'd do it now. Not the ideal time of year, but the alternative is planting them now, digging them up later, and traumatizing them twice. You may want to pull apart circling roots anyway on a clearance tree. If they are potted them out of the pot and them in a bucket of water briefly to soften the roots and make it easier to pull them apart. Then I dump the bucket of water th the planting hole(s?) and wait for it to drain. Maybe partially shade them with a tarp when the real heat hit?...See Moreshould I remove part of a river birch???
Comments (4)Many thanks for the quick reply! Would removing a significant trunk be considered pruning? I don't plan on cutting anything else except this branch that extends outside the general dimensions of the tree. Removing it would reestablish the general shape of the river birch. I'm more worried about strain on the existing trunk once a major section of it was removed. I would be removing all of a fork on this trunk....See Morecyndymn
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