Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Betula Utilis

finnmoomin72finnmoomin72 Posts: 6
in Problem solving
good morning all,

I bought this birch to add some height to my garden and was wondering if it’s ok to remove some of the lower branches or would it be too damaging?


Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    cut now before new growth starts
    Devon.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I would cut one or two of the smaller ones.  If it bleeds that means teh sap is already rising and you need to stop and wait till later in summer or even autumn as teh wounds won't heal and it could bleed to death.

    Otherwise yes, it will look a lot better with the lower stems removed and will make it concentrate growth on its upper half.  

    Don't forget to water it thoroughly before and after planting and make sure you tease out any roots that are going round the pot so they head off out into the soil to anchor it better.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    Yes - as the others say, it's absolutely fine to remove them. There's just this thing about 'bleeding' from the wound, which birches are notorious for. Even if bleeding starts, it would usually stop again eventually, and these are really very small branches.

    Here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=325 is an RHS article about 'bleeding'. For Betula in particular, it says "Avoid any pruning if possible; otherwise prune late summer to mid-winter." Don't worry too much about the 'avoid' thing - that's more if thinking of cutting large limbs off a mature tree - I don't think I'd call trimming off a few twigs 'pruning'.

Sign In or Register to comment.