BlueBell Arboretum & Nursery

Mail order trees, shrubs, conifers and woody climbers

Description

A fantastic tree and one of our most popular Birch, Betula utilis 'Doorenbos' is a slender, fast growing birch with particularly fine peeling white bark, even on quite young specimens. It can be grown as a single stemmed tree, but also makes an excellent multi-stemmed specimen (as shown in the photos).

Growing it in a multi-stemmed fashion also reduces the vigour and end size, making it an ideal tree for smaller gardens.

One of the very best Himalayan white birches, this is delightful as a standalone tree and even more striking when planted in groups, especially against a dark background (house wall, dark green hedge, etc).

Supplied Size (single stemmed trees): 3L containers (125 - 150 cm tall)

Supplied Size (Betula pruned to grow as a multi-stemmed tree):  3L containers (typically cut back hard to 60 - 80 cm tall to encourage branching low on the trunk)

• Position: Full sun.
• Soil: Any fertile soil.
• Hardiness: Hardy.
• Rate of Growth: Vigorous (moderate if grown as a multi-stemmed tree)
• Habit: Medium sized tree with a slender habit.
  • Height: 15 m (50 ft) / Smaller if grown as a multi-stemmed tree.
  • Spread: 10 m (32 ft)

• IMPORTANT: The birch trees listed here are usually available from our nursery with a strong main leader. If you would like to buy a birch with some young low branches or strong, low buds which has been freshly pruned by us to adopt a multi stemmed, vase-shaped habit as it grows, please let us know in the 'Notes' section of the online order form.

• These freshly pruned young trees are not for instant gratification, but establish well and after two to three years in the ground look fantastic, especially once the trunk starts to turn pure silver.

Plant Video

1) An informal short video clip taken of a specimen Betula utilis 'Doorenbos' in our own gardens. This tree is around 15 years old and was pruned back hard when young to encourage the side branches to grow and make an attractive multi-stemmed, vase-like shape.

2) A second video of the same multi-stemmed tree in our gardens.

Further Information

The lovely white barked birches of the Himalayas are found from Afghanistan, through Northern Pakistan, Kashmir, Nepal Bhutan and into Western China.

Plants may be grown with single trunks, or pruned hard as young plants to produce a multi stemmed effect. Alternatively three plants are sometimes planted in the same hole.

The specific name 'utilis' refers to the usefulness of this species, which in the wild is used as fuel and for the manufacture of everyday items, such as buttons.

On an expedition to the Eastern Himalayas in 2007 we noticed white Betula utilis stems just stuck into the side of tracks & roads being used as simple bollards to warn motorists of precipitous falls if they went off the road!

Other Suggested Plants

Customers who bought this plant also bought:

• Betula albosinensis 'Septentrionalis' (Chinese Red Birch)
• Betula ermanii (Erman's Birch)
• Betula ermanii 'Grayswood Hill' (Erman's Birch)