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Birch trees

Birches are particularly graceful trees, usually with attractive bark, and interesting leaves.

  • Betula utilis jacquemontii

    Betula utilis jacquemontii birch
    Best seller
    The Himalayan White Birch, one of the most popular white birches with characteristic bright white bark.
    £73.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis jacquemontii
  • China Ruby

    China Ruby birch
    A slow-growing form of the Chinese red birch, featuring peeling copper-coloured bark and long catkins.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)
    • Bark: Striated - brown
    Betula albosinensis
  • Dalecarlica

    The Swedish birch, an attractive columnar silver birch with drooping branches.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula
  • Darkness

    Darkness birch
    This birch features speckled dark bark and an upright habit.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: Striated - brown
    Betula utilis
  • Edinburgh

    Edinburgh birch
    Edinburgh is an upright form of the silver birch, discovered in the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis x Betula albosinensis
  • Fascination

    Fascination birch
    Fascination features coppery-orange papery bark and very long catkins, and grows with an upright habit.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)
    • Bark: Brown - light
    Betula albosinensis
  • Fastigiata Joes®

    Fastigiata Joes birch
    Best seller
    A unique silver birch with a compact upright columnar form and pendulous branches.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Columnar / Fastigiate
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula
  • Fetisowii

    Fetisowii birch
    A slow-growing small birch with bright white papery peeling bark.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    Betula
  • Golden Beauty

    Golden Beauty birch
    A gold-leaved silver birch, with an excellent upright form, white bark, and attractive autumn leaf colours.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula
  • Golden Fountain

    A nice example of the Golden Birch, with green-yellow leaves in the summer, turning golden yellow in the autumn.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula
  • Hergest

    Hergest birch
    Hergest is a form of the Chinese red birch, and features copper-coloured bark.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)
    • Bark: Brown - light
    Betula albosinensis
  • Jermyns

    Jermyns is a variety of the Himalayan birch, notable for its bright white bark and large catkins.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)
    Betula utilis jacquemontii
  • McBeath

    A slow-growing Himalayan birch with a bright white stem, a good choice for small gardens.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis
  • Moonbeam

    Moonbeam is an excellent form of the Himalayan birch, with the characteristic white trunk, but much smaller than other forms of this popular species.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    • Bark: Peeling
    Betula utilis
  • Royal Frost®

    An unusual silver birch with bronze-coloured leaves, and a white stem.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    Betula x populifolia
  • Silver Birch

    Silver Birch birch
    Best seller
    The Common Silver Birch, native to Europe, popular for its peeling white bark and pendulous branches.
    £67.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    Betula alba pendula
  • Silver Shadow

    Silver Shadow is one of the loveliest of the Himalayan birches, notable for its presence and pure white stem.
    £79.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis jacquemontii
  • Snow Queen

    Best seller
    An attractive tree, and one of the best forms of the Himalayan birch, with a bright white stem.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright-spreading / Vase
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis
  • Spider Alley®

    Spider Alley is a silver birch with unusual contorted twisting branches, and a pure white stem.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    Betula pendula
  • Trinity College

    A small attractive birch tree with bright white bark from a young age.
    £79.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula utilis jacquemontii
  • Tristis

    A graceful upright silver birch with pendulous shoots cascading from its branches.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula
  • Wakehurst Place Chocolate

    This lovely Himalayan Birch is named for its chocolate-coloured peeling striated bark.
    £75.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 5m-8m / 16ft-25ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Awards: RHS AGM (current)
    • Bark: Striated - brown
    Betula utilis
  • White Chocolate

    A small fast-growing birch tree with bright white bark.
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Upright
    • Growth habit: Pyramidal
    • Bark: White
    Betula ermanii
  • Youngii

    A weeping silver birch, the branches trail to the ground.
    £73.00buy
    • Height after 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
    • Growth habit: Weeping
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)
    • Bark: White
    Betula pendula


How to choose Birch trees

The birch family is characterised by graceful trees, often with interesting bark with a range of colours from dark brown to pure white. They will grow in a wide range of situations, preferring acidic conditions but many forms will tolerate chalk soils. They are relatively fast-growing trees.

Birches make good specimen trees, but are also very effective when planted in small groups. Their leaves are fairly small, so they provide shade whilst not blocking out light altogether. Most have an upright habit, but there are several with pendulous shoots which hang down from their branches.

Many birches will naturally become multi-stemmed. This desirable feature can be actively encouraged in very young bare-root trees by topping them at around 40cm-50cm, which will cause new shoots to grow from the base of the stem. In the second season after doing this, select 3-5 of the strongest new shoots and remove the rest.

The combination of interesting bark and branch structure makes birches particularly attractive in the winter, and if you are looking for a specimen tree with strong winter interest they are a good starting point.

There are many species to choose from, but two which stand out are the Himalayan birch (Betula utilis) and the native Silver birch (Betula pendula). We have several varieties of both these species.

Most of our birch trees are grafted on Betula alba rootstocks.