Betula Pendula Hedging

Silver Birch, Betula pendula, is a widespread, fast growing, native tree with pretty white bark and an airy canopy that casts light, dappled shade. It likes sunny sites, and will thrive on pretty much any soil except solid chalk. Silver Birch is not suitable as a hedging plant although it can be used as a screening tree up to about 25 metres high when its fine branches and sparse foliage blur rather than obliterate whatever it is you are trying to hide.

The plants on this page are young saplings. You can also buy larger Silver Birch trees here and you can browse all of our other varieties of Birch trees for sale or see our full range of hedging options.

Silver Birch plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size: When you are ordering a large quantity of Silver Birch for a big project, we suggest that you buy the smaller plants, graded at 40/60cms or 60/80cms. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and more likely to cope well with poor conditions. Use the larger sizes for instant impact in a garden.
All of our young trees and shrubs are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

General description of Betula pendula plants:
Common Names: Silver Birch, Lady of the Woods
The pale, creamy-white bark of this elegant tree is its best feature, providing year-round interest. It has little diamond shaped, mid-green leaves with serrated edges, dangling in fluttering streamers of thin, hanging side-branches. These turn yellow in autumn, which looks fantastic next to the white bark with the sun shining through it all.

History & uses of Betula pendula
Silver birch was a very useful tree in the past. Its bark was used for covering boats, canoes or for making the roof of a hut. A skilled worker could remove the outermost layer of bark without killing the tree: if you want to try your hand at this, late spring is the best time. An unpleasant tasting but effectively alcoholic mead can be made from Silver Birch sap, which tastes like sugary water in spring. Its resin was boiled down to make a decent glue.
Today, it is sometimes used as a coppice tree for firewood, harvested every 3/4 years. It is one of the easiest firewoods, burning bright and hot even before it is fully dried. Artist grade charcoal is made from the bark.

Notes on planting Silver Birch:
Silver Birch trees will grow well in most soils, especially acidic ones. It prefers heavy clay and moist conditions; it will grow close to rivers and tolerates winter waterlogging. It is very hardy and although it will grow in exposed locations, it will get twisted by constant wind. It must have plenty of sun.
Silver Birch will not grow well on chalk.

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+
40/60 cm Bareroot	Out of Stock £2.06	Out of Stock £1.15	Out of Stock £0.79	Out of Stock £0.52	Out of Stock £0.45
100/125 cm Bareroot	Out of Stock £3.95	Out of Stock £1.89	Out of Stock £1.79	Out of Stock £1.49	Out of Stock £1.29
120/150 cm Bareroot	Out of Stock £5.19	Out of Stock £2.45	Out of Stock £2.25	Out of Stock £1.98	Out of Stock £1.75
150/175 cm	Out of Stock £6.55	Out of Stock £3.98	Out of Stock £3.38	Out of Stock £2.93	Out of Stock £2.15

Silver Birch - Young Barerooted Saplings

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Betula Pendula Hedging