Among the most iconic native trees, the silver birch makes an impact in any garden with its elegant silver-white bark and gracefully weeping branches. The silver bark sheds its layers like paper over time, developing contrasting dark fissures and cracks with age that make each tree wholly unique. Silver birch trees support over 300 insect species as well as moths and many diverse fungi. Hole-nesting birds such as woodpeckers make their homes in the trunk. Bright green, serrated leaves form a light, airy canopy which allows for underplanting, before turning a glowing golden yellow when autumn rolls around. Yellow and green catkins appear in April and May, hanging in clusters like lambs' tails. Their seeds are enjoyed by birds including siskins, greenfinches and redpolls. Silver birch improves your soil; it spreads its roots wide, bringing otherwise inaccessible nutrients into the tree. These are then transferred into the soil by falling leaves. In Celtic folklore, silver birch symbolised renewal and bundles of its twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the old year! Our trees are usually between 18 and 36 months old at the time of dispatch. Our trees are professionally pruned before dispatching. This formative pruning can involve cutting the main leader, if the expert tree growers decide this will produce a better shaped tree. This can stop the tree becoming "leggy", and promote stronger, bushier growth.MORE Our mature trees are grown in Air-Pots®, the only type of pot to completely eliminate root circling. A unique design stimulates air pruning for a mass of healthy fibrous roots, which results in a healthy tree that will establish quickly in your garden. With each Air-Pot® made to last up to 20 years, we reuse them on the nursery and wrap your mature tree in hessian for delivery - but if you’d rather keep your tree potted, simply add an Air-Pot® to your basket along with your tree.
