White Birch Trees
Gardening Question from Rod:
I hired a new gardener last week and have 4 beautiful tall multi trunk birch trees in the front yard. He said they needed trimming so I said ok and found after that he had topped them all off leaving horizontal cuts at the top of the trees. I didn’t think anything of it until the landscaper I had used to plant all my trees and shrubs came by and asked, “What did you do to your trees?” He said to NEVER top off birch trees they can rot and die. I was, and still am, worried that I will lose these trees. I have confronted my gardener to explain why he did what he did. He didn’t know. What can I do? Just sit and wait to see what happens in the next couple of years? Help!!!
Answer from Pat:
I am so sorry to hear what happened to your birch trees. The minute you said your gardener said they needed trimming I knew what was coming. Topping trees is a bad practice regardless of the tree species. Traveling down the highways I often see trees that have been topped but no good tree trimmer would ever do this. I am afraid your gardener has ruined your birches and they may never recover. Certainly they will never regain a proper shape. I think the best thing to do is to count this up to experience and forget about it. There’s no point in making yourself miserable. If your trees die replace them and next time ask advice from someone knowledgeable before doing any pruning. I am worried about your other plants. Judging by the ignorance of your gardener I fear all your shrubs will end up looking like round lollypops on sticks.
Unfortunately, few hired gardeners available today know what they are doing. Almost all of them prefer pruning to any other task and have absolutely no idea now to prune correctly. They simply would rather chop away at plants than do anything else. Mighty few of our hired gardeners have any education in horticulture and I have yet to meet one who reads any books on anything, let alone plants and gardening.
I had this happen a few years ago, and I am happy to tell you that the tree recovered and is growing at the top again. It took quite some time, however, and hopefully the extra rain this year will help your trees.
Dear Liz:
Thank you for your encouraging comment.
Pat
A friend of mine had a family member do the very same thing to three (3) of her trees. The good news: all the trees grew back beautifully! I know she prayed over those trees. Just fyi . . .
Thank you for sharing this encouraging comment.
if you cannot top them how do you get rid of dead limbs – what is then technique for pruning?
Cut out dead limbs back to the trunk or a joint with living growth. Topping (cutting straight through a trunk or branch) is a bad practice, but drop-crotching (cutting back to a lower joint with live growth) is a correct method for lowering the height of any tree.
Oh wow, I had no idea that trimming off the top of trees is actually bad for them. I have a bunch of overgrown trees in my yard, and I’m planning having them pruned soon. I will be sure to be very selective in who I choose to hire. These trees have been on my property for decades, so very attached to them.
Just be sure that the tree trimmers you hire use the technique called “drop crotching” and do not “pollard’ the trees or leave stubs. As long as they cut off the branches or trunk that is too tall back to a joint or “crotch” all is well and they can do the same to the branch or branches that spring from that or nearby crotches. Sometimes tree trimmers fail to think of lowering the branches you go down to and they will leave a tree with a flat look on top. That is not what you want. A good pruning company can prune a tree into with nice rounded shape but no longer as tall as it was before.
I have been told that white birch trees in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles are dying of a disease which is becoming widespread. Is that true and is there anything I can do to protect or rescue my white birches?
In most cases it’s borers and beetles that are killing the trees. One borer, the polyphagus shot-hole borer also is the vector of a disease that it injects it into the tree. There is nothing you can do to cure this problem, other than cutting down the trees and planting a species of tree better adapted to your climate zone and not subject to borer and beetle damage. Sorry to give you such sad news. However, I have been telling people for over 40 years that white birch trees are not adapted to growing in Southern California and it is unwise to plant them.
This year we lost 11 Birch trees to the drought, they were 25 years old and I want to replace them but most of my research seems to say Birch trees are not recommended for the heat of the Bay area, Can you recommend a tree that is simuliar in look but better for the area?
I am sorry no I cannot recommend another tree similar in appearance to white birch. I suggest you purchase a copy of Sunset Western Garden book, study the list of trees well adapted to your region and choose one you like. Also visit a tree farm and your local Arboretum and view the trees.