we have just remodeled the home we live in, and needed a landscaper to do the basics (grade the dirt and move tree's) for us.
i want to add new trees to our property and absolutely love WHITE BIRCH! he tells us that the white birch is dying off, is that true?
Where do you live?
oh sorry! i live in the milw. wisconsin area. zone 5
we grew white birch quite successfully at our last house, same zone. we hung FELS NAPTHA soap on it, and had no birch bore problem.
Go to google, and search for the words "cooperative extension wisconsin". Contact them. The best advice for this type of thing usually comes from the local extension service.
thanks!
Very interesting. When I started studying tree biology I found some of the information by extension services disturbing. Example: They were recommending planting birch trees in the shade and then recommending pesticides to us for the bronze birch borer. Birches are a full sun species. Shade them and they will have problems. BTW birches need a little (not too much) water during dry times. Why? Because the stomata's on their leaves are stuck open. Why? I do not know. So anyway, I started making my own fact sheets.
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr. Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!
We know for a fact that 54-56% of the population is terminally stupid. Any subset of the population is probably the same. Sounds like you found some at those extension services.
I live in Illinois just below the Wisc. border. I planted 3 White birch trees back in 1984 in my front yard...full sun. Turns out, after a few years of growing, that all three were of a different variety of white birch. They all had different sizes and shapes of leaves.
2 of the trees grew faster than the third. After 15 years the slowest growing tree was 3" smaller in it's trunk diameter than the other 2. That one was lost to a fungus problem causing die back from the top. Had to remove it. The other two are now 10"+ in trunk diameter. They are towering over my 2 story house. I had to move my sattelite dish because they were so tall. I did have leaf miner problems when they were younger but lately the leaf miner problem has gone away? These trees do need special treatment. Watering during drought or even just dry conditions. I also fertilize them in the spring. Is weird, these last 2 trees are a different variety, one has very white bark and the other is darker. If you keep these trees watered the bronze birch beetle can't hurt them. The beetle bores into the tree and if it is healthy the borer just drowns in the sap of the tree. Any way that is the way I have been doing it and the trees are doing great. The neighbors just love them also. They are so nice to look at. Plus they block the sunlight to my house in the afternoon. Wish I could post some pics of them. They take some extra work but are well worth it. Dan.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.