Silver birch

Hi
I have purchased a bare root sliver birch tree that i am told is 3 years old.
It is about 3 foot high but the bark is not silver it looks coppery brown! Is this normal? I was expecting a lovely silver bark, but was wondering if the bark will go silver as the tree matures, or have i been sold something else as a silver birch?

 

Yes they develop the silvery bark as they get older. I did not even bother getting them at 3 years of age. They grow so fast you can buy them as whips that are really cheap.

 

Can you point me in the right direction to buy one like that?

How quickly will mine grow then?
Sorry im new to this with trees and dont really know much about them :confused:

 

Crikey someone else who is fed up with what is on offer on TV! Just broke off to watch the fireworks.
Try this one
http://www.heathwood.co.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=1
It is one of my local nurseries and I have bought a lot of hedging from them over the years ....and some trees...and they were always excellent quality.

 

I bought mine in a pot from a GC about 6 years ago. It was about head height and cost �£14.99 or so. Now it is wide enough to hug (!!) and is above the level of the gutters! It started as a junior in the bark department and is now a lovely silvery cracked appearance!


And Geoff, I agree - there's been the same film shown almost every night on some channels and all day showings of Last of and Fools and Horses which I couldn't stand in the first place. And UKDrama has shown Bleak House from start to finish three evenings on the trot! Not only is everything repeats, even the channels that show the repeats are repeating them on a day-long basis!!

 

Growth rates difficult to say, depends on soil conditions. , but they are fast growing and not long lived compared to many other trees. They are probably old at 50 years of age. I bought about half a dozen when we moved in 20 years ago to produce some quick shade and i felled them as I needed to replace or they were too big. Some I planted at school some 10 years ago are over 20 feet high and my one remaining tree at home is well above roof height...I have just looked at it, it must be over 40 feet and that is in 20 years.
I think those grown from whips do better than pot grown specimums. They seem to grow tall and slender which is how I remember them growing when we were in the Finnish forests and how I see them in the wild. A lot I see in other gardens that are pot grown seem quite stumpy and not as graceful in appearance.

 

I'm about to go out to drink beer and be beaten at darts - otherwise I'd spend more time checking the forum rules about 'adverts'. I hope it's o.k. to post this info:

Woolworths are currently selling 'patio' apple trees for �£9.99 which includes a FREE Silver Birch. I bought two Malus Lord Lambourne which seem to be in good condition.

Steve.

 

People regularly mention good deals they've got, so I wouldn't worry too much, Stephen! Not sure I want a silver birch, though, they get big rather quickly, and I have a couple of tiny ones that were volunteers in one of the gardens I do..... They'll be moved on as and when they get a bit bigger! :D