mkonig

Having had a bit of a play with some birch trees myself, here is my thoughts.

I like the base and the movement in the lower part of this tree and the mature white bark gives a nice perception of age.
I dont have much of a roblem with the taper as the natural growth of Birches is that of a slender tree and does not show the strong butressing as you would see in a Beech or Oak.

Looking at the basic branch structure, I do not believe that this particular tree would grow in the weeping style without wiring and although it is not impossible, it will be a constant effort to maintain the weeping branches.

That may also be the reason for the irregular bends in the branches.
The main problems I can see:
1. the branch crossing in front of the trunk
2. The apex "feels" wrong and not in sync with the rest of the tree. (I think this is because all of the main branches seem to emminate from the left hand side of the tree and the apex falls to the right)
3. ramification needs to be improved

Improvements:
Reduce the apex to the next lower branch on the left
Remove or reposition the crossing branch
Leaf cut in June (only if growing strongly, Healthy tree, and all other disclaimers of that ilk!!!!) to force ramification
Encourage and nurture any growth on the right side of the tree to achive a more ballanced image
Change the pot to an oval (maybe 2.5 times the width of the current pot and not too shallow as Birches do not like to dry out)

In summary
Definetly worth persevering with and I would really love to know if this tree is naturally a weeping Birch.

Regards

Mike

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