Birches aren't drought-tolerant and other things to know
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This stump is all that's left of the fifth and last birch tree in my yard. (Photos:
Kathy Morrison)
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The last of the five birch trees that were in our front yard bit the dust Wednesday. The tree crew took just 45 minutes to fell it, the branches hitting the muddy lawn with a loud "thud" as they were cut off.
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Birches are prized for their white bark but
the branches can be brittle.
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But the fifth tree was on the opposite side of the yard, the southern side, and it did a great job shielding some of the garden and house from the afternoon sun. (Of course it also dropped tons of small leaves in the fall.) The squirrels used it as part of their arborial highway, and the scrub jays often sat in the upper branches, keeping watch against predators while their nestlings slept in the nearby fern pine tree.
It takes a long time to kill a tree, so I think the big California drought of 2011-2017 spelled the eventual doom of this birch tree.
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This birch tree in a Carmichael neighborhood looks healthier
than the one we had removed this week. |
My current neighborhood was built between 1962 and 1970, and some stands of birches remain, but they are looking their age. And people still plant them -- a house a block away has two relatively young trees growing right in the lawn.
Tree fans contend that there are no bad trees, only bad tree locations, and I'm inclined to agree.
Here's the truth of the matter: Birches are natives of very cold climates. They need moist soil, and their shallow, wide-spreading roots are vulnerable to heat and drought. That makes the white birch one of the worst trees you can plant in drought-prone California. The aphids, of course, are another issue.
This last birch put out roots under most of our front lawn, but the irrigation cutbacks were clearly hurting it. The leaves this past year were much sparser than in past seasons, and a few of the branches in the crown didn't have leaves at all. My neighbor was afraid it was going to fall on her house -- though it wasn't leaning -- so we had our favorite arborist come look at it.
He agreed that the tree was slowly failing and could lose the top in a heavy windstorm. Birches in our climate, he noted, have a life span of 15 to 20 years or so. And this tree was at least 25, probably more. He said we could have it topped or have it removed. I've seen a few pathetic topped birches in the neighborhood, and I didn't want that.
So down it had to go, and yesterday it did.
The yard seems more exposed, so I probably will plant some shrubby native perennials in that area, but not another tree. There are utility lines buried nearby and I don't want to chance disturbing them.
If you have a birch in your yard, keep a close eye on it. And while you're at it, get to know the other trees around you, to forestall future questions. A tree that doesn't match our climate can survive -- with extra care.
But natives and other low-water trees are better choices. The Sacramento Tree Foundation site is an excellent place to start learning about these, with loads of information on trees for local landscapes. It also has information on how to hire an arborist.
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Garden Checklist for week of July 21
Your garden needs you!
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Feed vegetable plants bone meal, rock phosphate or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting. (But wait until daily high temperatures drop out of the 100s.)
* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.
* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
* It's not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.