Himalayan Birch

[BobbyLane]

I picked up this little Himalayan Birch betula utilis jacquemontii. im still not sure whether i want to develop it as shohin or grow it on in the ground and have a nice stump in a few years. it has an outstanding nebari and ive cut it back to short nodes, sealed the wounds. i imagine it will grow like any other Birch. this cultivar has papery white bark and shows it at an early age
2017-02-21_09-49-50 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-02-21_09-50-00 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-02-21_09-50-10 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-02-21_09-50-20 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-02-21_09-50-31 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-02-21_09-57-24 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

in the landscape
Himalayan Birch by n1el, on Flickr

Betula utilis var. jacquemontii by Christopher, on Flickr
Himalayan Birch Betula utilis by Luis, on Flickr

 

[just.wing.it]

Cool! I love birch, that white peeling bark is so cool!
Nice root spread already!

 

[parhamr]

Beautiful nebari!

 

[BobbyLane]

This one is going to be placed on a tile and ground grown for a bit. I'd like to see a little more girth in the trunk and i'd like it a bit bigger than shohin. its going to back bud like mad, so the resulting shoots should help to swell the trunk.

 

[Giga]

Nice birch - I have a river birch that I have been growing for the last few years- There a fun species

 

[wireme]

Here's one growing at around 3600m above sea level in the Himalayas.

 

[Dalmat]

its going to back bud like mad,

Nice base, birch better react when cut down in full leaf, often cut back like this results in die back.

 

[wireme]

Nice base, birch better react when cut down in full leaf, often cut back like this results in die back.

Interesting. You are really quite sure of this? Not that I doubt you really, it's just new to me, never heard that before.

 

[BobbyLane]

Here's one growing at around 3600m above sea level in the Himalayas. View attachment 133049

Nice! Hope you dont mind, i will stick this in my inspiration folder

 

[BobbyLane]

@Dalmat Hi, yes ive heard and am aware of this. i have two other birch that ive had for about a year and only pruned them during active growth. some say dont prune birch after aug, only in the growing season or they drop branches/dieback etc. my instincts are telling me now will be ok as most trees are getting ready to push energy up the tree. although i might not have hard pruned a month ago.
the buds on my other Birch are swelling
2017-02-17_12-22-29 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Its a funny one really, because ive picked the brains of other birch owners and they've not had such problems with this type of die back and they've happily pruned at any time and lost only a branch or two. these branches usually grow back.
Ill let you guys know how it gets on, even if my eagerness results in dieback, we'll see

 

[wireme]

Nice! Hope you dont mind, i will stick this in my inspiration folder

Of course, please do!

Try a google image search.

Gulmarg tree skiing

Or something similar, you should find a bunch of nice Himalayan birch pics mixed in there.

 

[Dalmat]

Ill let you guys know how it gets on, even if my eagerness results in dieback,

It is not such a bad in die back, just it redirects energy in sprouting from the base instead from branches.

 

[Iowa newbie]

Any updates on this? Looking at buying one myself

 

[andrewiles]

@BobbyLane I'm also curious if you have updates. I just started https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/best-white-bark-species-for-forests.49149/ to get some feedback on best trees for white trunks.

 

[BobbyLane]

If i can remember right, we had a hot summer and it was dug up by a fox and it didnt recover.