Betula pubescens - Multi-stem

Common name: downy birch

Description: A hardy, multi-stemmed birch with soft, hairy young shoots and greyish-brown bark that whitens with age, though never as brilliantly as silver birch. Oval, toothed leaves turn yellow in autumn, and this species copes better than most birches with cold, wet or exposed ground.

Other benefits: elegant year-round form, attractive peeling bark, good autumn colour, excellent specimen or small-garden tree, multi-stemmed habit for extra impact, exceptionally tolerant of cold, wet and exposed sites

Wildlife attraction: birds

Height & spread (approx.) at 10 years: 8m x 4m

Position: full sun or partial shade

Soil pH: neutral to acid

Moisture: moist to wet; tolerates poor drainage

Winter hardiness: fully hardy to below -25°C