I am interested to know if anyone has tried using white or silver birch from the USA in bonsai, particularly those that I may be able to collect here in MA. I'd like to get myself one this year. Also, I want to shoot for a shohin to medium sized bonsai, and I'm picturing an egg-shaped tree, as that is how they grow in my neck o' the woods. Any other info on birch (not care sheets... I can get that myself) is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Donovan,

I checked Simon and Schuster's "Guide to Bonsai" and found a birch forest display,
Betulus verrucosa: European white birch...I have a friend who makes bonsai from the paper birches that you describe. The bark is most attractive and I would enjoy seeing what you procure...Eventually I will collect one from Pennsylvania.

I can post a pic from the book when I see if it allowable on the forum...It is an inspirational display. the pic is from SS bonai as i mentioned before. from
Gunther Ruhe, Cassano Spinola.entry 11.



Rick

I have not tried birch myself, but from those I've talked to it seems that they have an annoying habit of branch die-back in response to pruning.

- bob

Donovan...aren't American Silver Birch normally very straight trees? I would also love to do a silver birch forest...or maybe a forest of about 13 Quaking Aspen.

Rick...love the picture.

Hi Donovan,

Birch are very easy trees to collect; they have shallow rootballs in all but the driest of soils. They recover quickly and easily yet they are not an easy tree to use.
As Bob says the branches can be prone to dieback. If you have to make any major trunk chops on a collected tree, the trunk can dieback along it's length; the tree can also reject the trunk entirely and centre all of it's energy on throwing out dozens and dozens of suckers. Removing the suckers does not redirect the energy to the main trunk; the tree just produces even more suckers!
There is an old thread on the bonsai-under-construction forum where I have had to rebuild a birch trunk that has died back along it's length.
Basically, what I'm saying is that you need to find a relatively thin trunk and develop it rather than trying to collect a thick (3"+) trunk.
If you want something bigger, chop it in the field and then wait until the following year before actually collecting the tree. This will reduce the possibility of dieback in the tree and save you wasting your time dragging home a heavy tree that may well dieback! BTW don't chop any birch now as they bleed heavily.

Harry

So what you're saying Harry, is that you don't have to go for trunk chop.
I have some nice birch outside about 3 years old that I grew from seeds.
I've been thinking of just pruning them over the millennia (I realize this is not the quick way of doing things)and growing a mature bonsai that way, instead of chopping them for a faster trunk.
That's assuming they made it thro' the winter, but they should be OK as I haven't moved them since I planted them.
They grew fairly quickly from seeds I got off our garden birches. If anyone has time, this is a great experience. Painless too. They're growing in planters on the ground and share room with petunias in the summer.
I really like the look of plants that have matured with pruning and wiring only, and not chopped.
Of course, variety is good.
Louise

Exactly Louise. I have no doubt that someone somewhere has successfully chopped a thick Birch trunk but in my experience it is very risky.
This is one deciduous species where growing from seed/taking cuttings/collecting thin trunks and carrying out a series of annual chops is the way to go (rather than allowing 5/10/20 years growth and then chopping back hard).
The good thing is that they do grow like wild!

The other thing I have found with birch is that as they are generally shallow rooting, they also develop really good nebari with a good rootspread of lateral roots.
I have collected a couple of silver birch this Spring, I 'll try and take some pictures sometime.

Harry

Thanks for all the replies.

Hinoki-

I was up in the NH/VT area this past weekend and they have quite a few birch visible from the roadside, many of which are the weaping type. They are very pretty right now, having no foliage and looking very delicate. When it warms up a bit, I'm going to go seed hunting under them and a few others of the paper bark type. A friend also has a yellow birch in his yard, which has an interesting irridescent golden brown bark with a somewhat shiny texture. If I get some, I'll send you some.

Rick-

Thanks for posting that forest. I love it. From the sounds of it, if I can collect one, and it dies back and suckers, I'll go for the slow-grow in a clump/forest as a recovery.
I will keep you all posted on my successes/errs.

Bob-

Yes, I did some research about that dieback and there seems to be a consensus about it being at least partly to blame for drying out soil conditions. Incidently, I had a chance to probe the mind of a friend of mine this weekend. He is a wildlife surveryor in the NH area. He completed many years of schooling, majoring in wildlife preservation and biology. He brought up an interesting bit of information. He said that all trees have this certain type of cell (which I can not remember at the moment, but I'll ask him again). This cell type is distributed throughout the entire tree. All trees have them, but in differing sizes. He said in birch these cells are large and this causes them to be less cohesive and more vulnerable to injury than other species.
He also said that part of the beauty the whole dieback thing is that if there is a forest fire, the birch is very hardy, since it can sucker from very far out on it's root system if necessary, ensuring the continuation of the species. Very interesting stuff.

Bentwood-

Yes, they are normally very straight trees here in MA and in the NH/VT area. I was checking many of them out this past weekend and saw 3 distinct forms: weeping, broom, and clump. Some of the brooms had very low branches, with consistently symmetric branching all the way up. That is the image I like best in this tree.

Harry-

Thanks for the info on collecting. I am going to shoot for something smaller or even seeds or seedling if I can find any. About chopping wild birch now... they will bleed now? We are still having temps below freezing on some days and a slew of random snow storms. Are they an early-bird? What are the ramifications (NPI) of light pruning? I am thinking that I can make a very realistic-looking birch with relatively thin stock, since that is how they grow naturally. For a shohin size bonsai, I'm thinking 1" finished trunk, maybe even less. Would dieback be a worry when trimming even branches of the size in scale with something like that small of a trunk?

BTW, what do the seeds look like once they have been wintered in their natural environment?

Thanks all.

Hi Donovan,

Exactly, this is why Birch are easy to collect successfully but will also abandon established growth (the trunk) easily.
Birch are also adept at losing their leaves to reduce transpiration in times of drought and so will happily grow with shallow root systems; in the UK if we have a dry Summer many Birch will display Autumn colours and start dropping their leaves as early as August!
It's why they are considered a frontier tree, that is, one that is the first to establish on derelict land.

Personally I wouldn't bother starting from seed. Below is a Birch I collected last week. I chopped and sealed the 1" chop a couple of months ago; notice that I have left all of the branches unpruned to ensure that the tree doesn't abort the whole trunk.
When the tree is fully in leaf (around April in the UK) I will think about pruning back the branches but I will leave the trunk at this height to build a graceful tall tree with gently weeping branches. I don't think it is a suitable species for showing with a heavily tapered, thick trunk. This is one reason why it works well as a group planting.
Any chops made on a Birch now will bleed as the tree will not be able to heal before the sap starts rising, if you can keep any heavy pruning to a minimum and seal the chop you may well be ok.

Recovery is very quick for a tree like this one below, it has a fantastic nebari and a very dense rootball (no pictures sorry). I should be able to start styling it by the end of the Summer.
BTW Trunk diameter is around 1 1/2"-2".

Harry

Donovan: I'm so glad you posted this thread! I also love birches but wasn't sure where to go with that.

Harry: Thanks for posting your experience w/birches - all things I didn't know.

There was a beautiful Dwarf Arctic Birch bonsai on ebay done (the seller has some beautiful bonsai, not mallsai). I wrote to him to ask if he minds if I post the photo here & hopefully will hear from him later (he's in California so it's about 5:am there now). It was so lovely!

Has anyone else heard of Dwarf Arctic Birch? He said the leaves are very small - as small or smaller than Seiju Elm which I think is descended from Chinese Elm.

Rie

OK, I just received an email from the creator of the Dwarf Arctic Birch bonsai I was talking about and he has graciously permitted me to post the photo as long as I credit properly and send him back a link to our forum (could be fun if he joined us too!).

This bonsai was created by Maiban Bonsai in San Francisco, CA. I know he sells on eBay but I don't know if there is a non-eBay business. Very very nice person.

I fell in love with this tree though I missed the end of the auction. I wanted to share this photo since we were talking about birches and this is something I'd love to try and hope to achieve someday. It's a small tree, about 6" high & 8" wide and the bonsai pot is 4 x 6 inches.

Rie

Hi Rie,

I have bought some good stock from Mabain before but this is not an endoresment.
Thanks for sharing the pic with me, an interesting species.


I'll continue our correspondence soon.

Best wishes

Rick

Hey Rick!

Oh I hope my post didn't come across as advertising or something! I just wanted to share the picture & credit properly. And he's also been very nice & informative - I'd bought the mugho pine from him as well (which, btw, is doing well - thank God!).

All told I have to say I've met some wonderful people in the bonsai world. Whether it's been people here, or sellers who've gone out of their way to be helpful, or friends & even strangers who share the interest, overall I have to say I've been quite impressed with the caliber of people and the depth of their involvement and most of all, by the generosity as they share information and experiences.

Look forward to our continuing dialogue & hope all is well - a foot of snow here & it's snowing again though hopefully it won't accumulate much more.

Rie

Hi Rie-

Thanks for posting that pic. It was interesting to see that Birch styled as a traditional bonsai. Is a Dwarf Arctic Birch an actual species/cultivar of birch?

Harry-

Thanks for that info. You just saved me a few years. All the talk about dieback... I had no idea what the range for possible cuts was, but the pic/info clarifies it. If I'm going to collect one, can I simultaneously chop and collect one of the similar size as yours now? Or is it too late?

Collect until the shoots extend and start to show green. Timing depends on your climate but you should be ok at the moment.
As I said, try to keep pruning to an absolute minimum until after the leaves have opened (at the earliest). Any cuts you do make should be sealed to try and stop sap loss, Vaseline is the easiest and cheapest barrier.
Also make sure you follow general collecting guidelines; get permission, collect as much rootball as you can, plant the tree into a suitably sized container that doesn't require any removal of roots to make the tree fit. If the tree fits into a large bonsai container fair enough but don't do heavy rootwork and expect the tree to survive and recover vigorously just so it can be in a bonsai pot. The tree will develop much more quickly if planted into a suitable conatiner and allowed to recover for a year or two.

Harry

Hi Donovan!

You're welcome. I love to look to others' work for inspiration.

I believe it's a species but here's a website I had bookmarked with more info:

http://www.answers.com/topic/birch-3

If you scroll down & click on their "classification" link, it takes you to a more organized list. Apparently dwarf birches are considered "Small shrub with small rounded leaves." which may be why it would lend itself more easily to bonsai, much as cottoneaster & ligrustrum I guess.

Rie

Well, I was going to collect one this weekend, but the ground it still too frozen... it's ice still, hard as a rock. The shovel wouldn't even make a dent.