The birch for ground that stays wet. Shaggy bark peels away in pinkish-orange layers, glossy diamond-shaped leaves turn yellow in autumn, and it copes with waterlogging and heavy clay that would see off most trees.
Free click & collect from the nursery, or delivery on larger orders.
Betula nigra, the river birch, is a fast-growing deciduous tree reaching around 18m with a conical habit. Its great feature is the bark: shaggy, peeling away in layers, pinkish-orange at first and darkening to brown — almost blackish or grey-white and ridged on older trees. The glossy, diamond-shaped leaves turn clear yellow in autumn, and yellow-brown male catkins up to 8cm hang from the branches in early spring.
It comes originally from the swampy regions of the southern United States, and that heritage is exactly why it is worth knowing about. The river birch excels in places that stay too wet for most trees, and it tolerates poor soil including heavy clay. If you have a corner that sits damp through winter, this is the tree for it.
Grown as a multi-stem, the peeling bark is shown off several times over, which is the whole reason to buy one.
Every plant we sell is backed by four decades of growing. Tell us about your garden and we’ll tell you honestly whether this is the right plant for it.
Get in touch
HedgeXpress