Tag: river birch

  • Trees, snow and shadows

    Trees, snow and shadows

    The peeling bark of river birch (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)
    The peeling bark of river birch (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)

    If you’ve received your copy of the winter issue of Garden Making, the Design Issue, have a look at Karen York’s story (“Shadow Magic,” page 80) about the shadows trees cast across snow. A tree’s structure and the frozen whiteness they stand in for much of our northern winter is a special art form. Selecting trees with winter features is important for making a beautiful winter landscape, and fortunately almost every woody plant is enhanced when associated with snow.

    I have three trees in my front garden that are spectacular whenever the snow flies. A river birch (Betula nigra, Zone 4) is beautiful when snow catches in the bark curls that cover its full length. This tree has five trunks and makes a stunning winter focal point, with tan to shrimp-pink bark instead of the more common white.

    By the front steps is a ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’ limber pine (Pinus flexilis ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’, Zone 5) with long packets of soft needles that catch drifts of snow. This dwarf pine grows to approximately 18 feet (5.5 m) and has an open, see-through structure that supports clematis vines in summer. When snow catches on the needles, the image is so magical it looks like an idealized Disney movie creation. Having it by the front steps is the most visible, pride-of-place location I can give it.

    Every kind of beech tree is blessed with slim branches carrying pointed buds in winter that are elegant when outlined with freshly fallen snow. Along the street, I’ve planted a hedge of purple-black beech trees (Fagus sylvatica ‘Riversii’, Zone 5) to act as a windbreak for the front garden. As the predominant northwest wind sweeps in, every branch and bud on the beech hedge is outlined in white, creating an impressive wall of delicate tracery.

    This winter, I’ll look more carefully at the shadows on the snow, and consider what other woody plants I can add next spring. Trees and snow are surely the keys to making a beautiful winter garden.

  • River birch at winter’s end

    River birch at winter’s end

    The peeling bark of river birch (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)
    The peeling bark of river birch (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)

    Before buds burst out in leaf, look around your garden and consider if it has enough winter interest. We make our gardens in a cold climate, and having attractive plants in winter is crucial for gardeners waiting patiently for the arrival of spring. If you need more winter features, nurseries will soon be open and you can make some purchases for a better winter garden next year. (I know from experience that this is much harder to judge in mid or late summer, when memories of winter are too distant.)

    I like cold weather and winter features, and always consider what a woody plant will look like from November through March. If I had to select one plant that has been most attractive through the cold months, it would be my river birch tree (Betula nigra, Zone 4) in the front garden, with sweet little catkins in spring and small shiny foliage in summer. River birch is a big tree, and I’ve put it along the front walkway, so it’s constantly in view and near enough to touch as people pass by. Unlike other birch trees, it’s not dazzling white, but has a soft tan bark with elaborate exfoliation. The colour changes to pinky taupe when the setting sun falls on it, and the winter profile shows off delicate twiggery with pointed buds.

    River birch has a pyramidal, multi-trunk shape, with many low twigs and branches. I’ve pruned it up, removing low  branches to better display its beautiful bark. It’s fast growing, to about 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 m), and makes dappled light around its base. Birch trees like water and I’ve planted it near perennial beds and lawn, where it can share frequent irrigation. (Periods of summer heat and drought haven’t set it back at all.) Woody plant expert Michael Dirr says river birch is probably the most pest-free of all the birches, and I’ve found this to be true. Bronze birch borers just pass on by, and I haven’t seen any leaf miners on it. Dirr recommends the tree for slightly acidic soils (pH 6.5 or lower), but my slightly alkaline soil (pH 7.3) seems to suit it just fine. If I could have only one winter feature plant, river birch is it.

     

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