Betula pendula

Common name: silver birch

Description: An elegant, narrowly conical tree with slender, drooping twigs and peeling white bark that becomes black and rugged at the base with age. Diamond-shaped, toothed leaves turn yellow in autumn, and yellow-brown catkins open in early spring.

Other benefits: elegant year-round form, attractive peeling bark, good autumn colour, excellent specimen or small-garden tree, classic elegant silhouette, tolerant of poor and exposed sites

Wildlife attraction: birds

Height & spread (approx.) at 10 years: 9m x 5m

Position: full sun or partial shade

Soil pH: neutral to acid

Moisture: moist but well-drained

Winter hardiness: fully hardy to below -25°C