I'll try and remember to take my camera @Ergates. It still has most of it's foliage too, which is quite unusual at this time of year, but it's been so mild.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
These make beautiful multistems, more attractive than single stem specimens imho. I was going to suggest what Bob said but it it's not something I've tried so didn't feel confident suggesting it.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
Managed a photo today @Ergates. It's not great because I'd have to be right inside the people's garden to get the best view! There's a maple in behind it which is where the red colouring is coming from, not the birch It's easier to see it when all the foliage is off though. Hope it gives you some idea though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks, Fairygirl, that was kind of you! Thats actually a very pretty effect. There are no side shoots on our trunk below the damage. Does that matter? If I left it as it is, to see if it recovers, and the top starts to die off, would it be too late to cut it back then? At the moment, we are inclined to leave it, and if it dies, get rid of it and replace with the same or perhaps something different.
It's my understanding that many of the jacquemontiis are grown as multi stemmed specimens @Ergates , so it would be a case of doing as @BobTheGardener said on the previous page, but perhaps he could confirm. They're quite adaptable
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Lots of multi-stemmed forms of this one seem to start the branches from 2-3 feet, so if you go for that, I'd initially cut it just below the damage once it goes dormant. Trees want to live, so it will hopefully form buds and new shoots from the remaining trunk, but may send up new shoots from the ground. I know nurseries create multi-stemmed betula by cutting young ones back to about 2 to 3 inches above the soil. If it were a larger and much older tree, I may hesitate but at that size I'd say it had every chance.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
All this mention of multi-stemmed trees brings back memories of my Liquidambar .
As a young tree growing in isolation in a front lawn of a previous property , it was accidentally snapped off @ 2' from ground level by an over zealous postman attempting a short-cut to the front door on a dark December morning .
Twenty-years on I frequently pass the property and witness a lovely multi-stemmed tree which appears stunning in the Autumn .
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It still has most of it's foliage too, which is quite unusual at this time of year, but it's been so mild.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
There's a maple in behind it which is where the red colouring is coming from, not the birch
It's easier to see it when all the foliage is off though. Hope it gives you some idea though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thats actually a very pretty effect. There are no side shoots on our trunk below the damage. Does that matter? If I left it as it is, to see if it recovers, and the top starts to die off, would it be too late to cut it back then?
At the moment, we are inclined to leave it, and if it dies, get rid of it and replace with the same or perhaps something different.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...