White birch

Botanical names

Betula pendula (European white birch); Betula papyrifera (paper birch)

Type

Short-lived deciduous ornamental

Size

Paper birch 70 to 80 feet in good sites; European white birch pyramidal and weeping

Hardiness

European white birch zones 2 to 7 (Utah State University); zones 6b to 7b here

Where it is found

Front yards and lawns, about 4,000 to 6,500 feet

Known weak points

Low drought tolerance, shallow roots, bronze birch borer

White birch is a favorite for front yards because of the bark and the weeping branches. It is also among the trees we read about most for problems in high-desert landscapes. This page covers identification, where it grows by elevation and when pruning or removal is right.

How do you identify a white birch?

The bark is the clue: chalky white on European white birch, with horizontal lenticels and, on older stems, rough black vertical furrows. Paper birch has white bark that peels in papery sheets, according to the USDA Forest Service. Young stems are brown to reddish. Leaves are small, triangular to oval and double-toothed, and they turn yellow in fall.

Branches on European white birch hang down in a weeping habit, and the crown is pyramidal. Catkins hang from the twigs in spring.

• White bark, chalky or papery
• Black furrows at the base of old trunks
• Small double-toothed leaves
• Weeping twigs on European white birch

Where does it grow in Reno, Carson City and the Carson Valley?

White birch is rated for zones 2 to 7, so it is hardy everywhere we work. The problem is not cold but dry ground and heat. Utah State University rates European white birch low for drought tolerance and poor drainage, and the nearest NOAA stations record only about 7 to 9 inches of precipitation a year at Reno and Carson City. These trees live on lawn water.

On the Nevada side of Tahoe, at Incline Village (6,437 feet) and Glenbrook (6,243 feet), the climate is cooler and wetter, and birches are better matched. Utah State suggests cooler, moister conditions may help prevent borer infestations.

What goes wrong with it here?

Utah State reports European white birch severely affected by borers in much of Utah, and the Forest Service calls the bronze birch borer the most serious insect pest of paper birch. The borer attacks stressed or declining trees. Thinning at the top of the crown, dieback and D-shaped holes in the bark are the signs. The Forest Service also notes birches are shallow-rooted and short-lived, rarely living past about 140 years.

Iron chlorosis in alkaline soil can add to the stress; see iron chlorosis. A birch lawn tree that is crowded by turf, root-disturbed or overly dry is in the group the borer likes. See drought stress and dieback.

Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call?

Dead and dying branches come out. University of New Hampshire Extension says to prune and destroy dead or heavily damaged branches by early May. Timing for live pruning is the cooler, dormant season; avoid cutting a stressed birch in the period when borer adults are active, which Utah State puts from late May through August.

Removal is the usual answer when the top third of the crown is dead or thin, since UNH notes that once a tree is heavily infested its chance of survival is low. Most are routine tree removal jobs, and stump grinding finishes them.

From the ground, count the clues: how much of the crown is bare, whether the bare part is at the top, whether the leaves in the lower crown are full-sized, and whether there are small D-shaped holes or raised welts on the trunk. A birch that leafs out late and thin and keeps thinning is telling you something. A photograph of the crown each June gives the arborist something to compare.

What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a white birch?

Start with a free estimate. A certified arborist assesses the tree before any work begins, and the estimate says whether the answer is pruning out dead wood or removal. Two of our crew are ISA Certified Arborists, and credential WE-11728A belongs to one of them. We do not apply insecticides or plant trees.