Common Silver Birch

Betula pendula

Warty Birch, East Asian White Birch, Silver birch, Bed wen, Birk tree, Common birch, European white birch, Lady birch, Lady of the woods, Weeping birch

Betula pendula in Sedovo 1 by see here (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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This is an elegant species of deciduous tree with characteristic white peeling bark. They can grow over 12m in height, making them a medium sized tree. The trunks are usually quite slender, with a rugged texture and slim, drooping branches. Young branches have deep purple-tinged bark and hang gracefully from the main branches. The tree has an upswept branch structure that weeps. Leaves are ovate in shape, coloured green and turning yellow in autumn, flowers are non-showy and cream-green in colour, arranged in catkins.

Explore 1 descendants

Swedish birch

Betula pendula 'Laciniata'

Planning

Difficulty

Easy

Flowering time

Spring

Fruiting time

Summer

Propagation

Cuttings

Betula pendula can be grown from softwood cuttings taken from the stem tips between late spring and early summer.

Seed

These are best sown as soon as it is ripe. They should be put in a cold frame in a light position, with soil only just covering the seeds. When sowing in the spring they should be surface sown in a sunny position. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, pick them by hand and pot into individual pot, continuing to grow them in the cold frame for their first winter.