Betula pendula, or the Common Silver Birch tree, is native to the UK and has white bark which develops diamond shaped cracks towards the base as it matures.

This tree is also known as “The Lady of the Woods”, due to its graceful and slender appearance. Betula pendula is a pioneer species, and even though it seems to grow everywhere in the UK, it is very difficult to transplant bare rooted, however our containerised trees counter this trend and do very well post planting.

This large and vigorous birch tree grows well on most soils but is not well suited to areas where the soil becomes compacted.

At Barcham we stock Betula pendula as both a multi-stem and single trunk tree. The multi-stem specimen we supply are true coppices, rather than 3 or 4 plants in a pot. This is something to be wary of; multiple trees grown to form a multi-stem are unlikely to thrive in the long term.

Multi-stemmed birch trees are particularly useful in exposed conditions, as the centre of gravity is much lower to the ground, which reduces the likelihood of physical damage from the whipping of the stems in the wind.

Mature height: 7-12m

Mature spread: 7-9m