The distinctive catkin flowers form in early spring.
This is great for the flowers in your wildlife garden, and will also allow wild flowers to grow.
Features: Around 60 different species and two native varieties: silver birch, Betula pendula and downy birch, B. pubescens.
Uses include timber, extract for dyes and its leaves are also used as a diuretic tea. Details B. pendula is an elegant medium-sized deciduous tree with slender drooping twigs. Silver birch is a great addition to a garden when grown as a specimen tree. Explore wildlife > Silver Birch; Silver Birch. Weeping Willow Trees as a Habitat for Wildlife. Category: Trees and bushes. River birch, as an ornamental tree, offers fall and winter color to parks, yards and street sides. They are not too fussy about soil types, as they grow well in just about all soils, and will even tolerate occasional waterlogging. Benefits: wildlife-friendly, good for damp soil Leaves consist of antiviral and antibacterial properties that help protect the body against infection and also speed up recovery from any infection that you may have.
Silver birch are often good choices for small gardens. Birch - Betula spp Height and spread: 25 m (80 ft) x 12 m (40 ft). Trees grown naturally from seed appear to be less prone to this disease, compared with trees planted. Trees and shrubs for wildlife Planting trees in your garden is one of the best ways of enhancing the wildlife value of your garden. Beltane fires in Scotland were ritually made of birch and oak, and a birch tree was often used as a, sometimes living, maypole. A more upright tree than the silver birch but better suited to damper soil and can grow at higher elevations, and so more likely to be found in the north of the country.
The branches from Silver birch are used to make witches brooms. Conditions: Prefers acidic soils. Try the weeping Betula pendula ‘Youngii’ which has arching stems of ovate leaves that fade to yellow in autumn. Silver Birch can be used as a specimen or they can be planted in a clump of 3-5 trees. Another good thing about Silver birch is the small leaves, which gives it an open canopy. Silver birch is monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers (catkins) are found on the same tree, from April to May. Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes.
Silver birch belongs to the genus Betula and is a member of the birch family (Betulaceae).. Silver birch (Betula pendula) is a deciduous tree growing up to 30m and flowering April to May.Lifespan: Rarely lives beyond 100 years. An interesting fact. Silver birch varieties. There are two types of birch in Ireland, downy and silver. The advantage of clump planting is that multiple white trunks have a far bigger impact than a single tree trunk, and when birches are clumped close together the competition between … Birch Trees. They are famed for their stunning bark which looks great throughout winter. Nature Stars: 30. Silver birch trees can have a single trunk or be multi-stemmed. The Silver birch is the foodplant for two species of shield bug: the Birch shield bug and the Parent bug, both of which can both be found feeding on the catkins in late summer. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. Genus Betula can be deciduous trees or shrubs, usually colouring well in autumn and often with striking white, pink, or peeling brown bark; separate male and female catkins open before or with the leaves in spring . Native vs immigrant trees: what's best for attracting wildlife?
Cherry birch is similar in appearance, although the bark doesn't exfoliate as freely as that on silver birch. The river birch tree often is used for landscaping due to its graceful drooping limbs and attractive color.