Downy / Common White Birch trees

The Downy Birch or Common White Birch, Betula pubescens, is an upright native tree with pale grey mature bark. It grows in any soil apart from chalk and especially likes damp sites. It has good autumn colour and its leaves support several species of butterfly caterpillar.
Common White Birch is not suitable for a clipped hedge. However it is very fast growing and so can be grown as a screening tree up to about 20 metres high.
Browse all of our other varieties of Birch trees for sale.

Downy Birch plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-April).

General description of Betula pubescens plants:
Common Names: Common / European White Birch, Downy Birch, Hairy Birch
This tree is very similar to Silver Birch. The most obvious difference is that the young twigs of White Birch have downy hairs on them and feel smooth to the touch. The tree's canopy is also more upright and narrow than silver birch.

History & uses of Betula pubescens
In the past, birch bark was very valuable because it is oily, waterproof and flexible when heated. It was used to make all sorts of items related to water, from boats to buckets to roofs to hats. Birch was associated with fertility and bundles of birch twigs were used in Medieval times to flog criminals. You might find birch twigs in a traditional Swedish sauna to lightly whip your back with, which is supposed to enhance your detox. Birch wood isn't very commercially valuable these days; it is mostly used for paper pulp and disposable things like toothpicks an dmatches. It burns well, if a little quickly.

Notes on planting Common White Birch:
Common White Birch trees will grow well in most conditions where there is full sun. They prefer moist, heavy clay but they will also grow on quite poor, dry soils. Birches are hardy trees, but they will get twisted out of shape on exposed locations with strong winds.
They will not grow well if the site is chalky or shady.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you intend to plant several months in advance. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and a glyphosate based weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.
If you have a heavy clay soil, it might be too difficult to dig over for most of the year. Heavy clay is fertile soil, so you don't really need to improve it; killing the weeds is still necessary.

Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a protective plastic spiral for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Misc	Wildlife Value
Shade	Partial Shade
Area	Exposed Windy Areas
Soil	Acidic, Wet
Type	Native, Screening
Also Good	Autumn Colour

	NUMBER OF PLANTS
SIZES	1-9	10-49	50-249	250-999	1000+
60/80 cm Bareroot	Out of Stock £2.06	Out of Stock £0.82	Out of Stock £0.68	Out of Stock £0.62	Out of Stock £0.45

Downy Birch Trees (Betula pubescens)

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Downy / Common White Birch trees