Snow Queen Birch Large Trees

Betula utilis jacquemontii Snow Queen: Doorenbos Himalayan Birch Trees in Standard Sizes

Betula utilis jacquemontii Snow Queen, or Doorenbos, is a royal presence in the garden. The sublime pure-white bark is a fabulous feature all year round, particularly in the colder months, when the structural 'bones' of a garden are revealed and the tree is lit by the low winter sun. Snow Queen develops her white bark earlier than regular Himalayan Birches.
Spring brings those pretty little catkins, shivering in the March breeze like lambs' tails, and in Autumn the leaves turn soft mango-yellow before falling to reveal a handsome pyramid-shaped skeleton, the upper limbs swaying with the wind. It's a lovely specimen tree, used as a focal point, or planted in small groups to create a coppice of luminous white bark. Reaching about 7 metres with an upright habit, an avenue of them can provide light screening.
Browse the rest of our range of birch trees.

Delivery season: Birches are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Final height/spread: 7 x 3.5m in 20 years
• Foliage: deciduous, green, forming a light canopy
• Soil: well drained
• Use: avenue, specimen, woodland, particularly in small gardens
• White peeling bark, spring catkins, orange autumn leaf colour
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Growing Snow Queen Birch

Suitable for pretty much any soil except chalk, it looks best in full sun (especially in winter) but will tolerate light shade.

She is small enough to fit in most borders as a specimen, and is a classic partner for white-flowered perennials. For a stunning winter tableau, white hardy geraniums work well, as do hellebores and snowdrops.

Did You Know?

Simon Doorenbos (1891-1980) was Director of The Hague Parks Department between 1927 and 1957, and a founder of the International Dendrology Society. He also worked extensively with Dahlias, and bred a hybrid Elm, Den Haag, the first recorded attempt at a variety resistant to Dutch Elm disease, which had been discovered in Holland in 1921. The Liset crab apple is one of his many creations.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

After you plant a tree, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. If you didn't use a mulch mat, you will also need to weed around the tree. Both of these will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Special notes on caring for Himalayan birch trees:
Himalayan birch is a very tough tree that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If pruning is necessary, it is best do it in winter. Avoid pruning birch trees in spring, as they will bleed sap. Always hire a tree surgeon to remove large branches.
Our friend Cindy uses a pressure hose on a gentle setting to wash her Himalayan birches before she opens her garden to the public each year. This keeps them gleaming white.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.