Silver birch<\/a> is about the worst native tree to try to turn into a hedge plant. Any birch<\/a>, the Betula family, would be a poor choice. <\/p> You still get a hedge out of it when you keep it trimmed, but it will tend towards being weak, thin, and looking sad in winter with no leaves.<\/p> The problem is how Birch grows, and its response to being trimmed once or twice a year.<\/p> Finally, Birch wood is not very strong in wood terms, and being cut repeatedly weakens it significantly, removing a lot of the elasticity. You would get better results with Oak<\/a>, Sycamore<\/a>, or Ash (Fraxinus exclesior, the one with dieback diease<\/a>), which also clip poorly as hedges.<\/p> To find a Silver Birch hedge, we have to take you to historic K\u0142odzko, Poland, outside Adam Mickiewicz Primary School. As a low, decorative, step-over-for-tall-person sort of hedge, it almost looks passable in leaf if you don\u2019t stare rudely at it:<\/p>\n
No disrespect to birches, obviously they will still have someone\u2019s eye out, but a birch hedge won\u2019t make a good climbing frame for kids being kids.<\/p>
It\u2019s a well tended hedge, you can see from the low weeds and grass in front that the area is strimmed twice a year, and the hedge is trimmed once.<\/p>