“One could do worse than be a swinger of birches,” the poet Robert Frost wrote, praising the slender trees that can bend to the ground without breaking beneath the weight of an ice storm (or beneath a boy who climbs a trunk for the pleasure of riding it down).
See more in Garden Visit: A Galvanizing Garden in Sag Harbor, NY. Where river birch trees grow best: Happiest in USDA growing zones 4 to 9, river birch trees are fast-growing (achieving heights of up to 40 feet within two decades) but relatively short-lived (with lifespans of up to 50 years).
River Birch Trees: Betula nigra
Photograph by Cara Greenberg for Gardenista.
The leaves and flower of a river birch tree.
Photograph by Plant Image Library via Flickr.
Leaves of Betula papyrifera (Paper Birch) turn a bright yellow in autumn. Where paper birch trees grow best: Native to North America and happiest in colder climates, this tree can survive in growing zones 2 to 7.
Paper Birch Trees: Betula papyrifera
Photograph by F.D.
Photograph by Justin Leonard via Flickr.
Bark from a paper birch tree peels off easily.
Photograph by Charlie Hopkinson.
Silver Birch Trees: Betula pendula
Garden designer Jinny Blom added a “light canopy” to a garden in London’s Primrose Hill neighborhood by planting birch trees. In a landscape: With white, peeling bark and spade-shaped leaves, silver birch trees call attention to themselves in a garden.
Widely grown in the US, silver birch trees are suitable trees for growing zones 2 to 7.
Photograph by Donald Hobern via Flickr.
A silver birch tree has spade-shaped leaves.
On New York City’s High Line park, a leafy glade of gray birches and ferns is only a short distance above the crowds of museum goers at the Whitney Museum and the noisy commercial traffic on Washington Street.
Photograph courtesy of Timber Press.
Gray Birch Trees: Betula populifolia
“Gray birch is an attractive tree that is often used as a winter landscape plant or when space limitations require the use of trees with a smaller stature,” notes the USDA. ”
Photograph by Dan Nydick via Flickr.
The airy leaves of a gray birch tree. Required Reading: New York: City of Trees.
Photograph by Wendy Cutler via Flickr.
At Kilkenny Castle in Ireland, a Himalayan birch (Betula utilis var. Where Himalayan birch trees grow best: A tree that enjoys full sun and enough open space to showcase its 20-foot canopy, Himalayan birch is hardy in growing zones 4 to 7.
Himalayan Birch Trees: Betula utilis
The leaves of Betula utilis.
Photograph by Sten Porse via Wikimedia.
Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
Erman’s Birch Trees: Betula ermanii
Llanover Gardens in South Wales has been in the same family since the late 18th century; laid out two centuries ago, 15-acre parkland retains much of its original design.
Photograph by Harum.koh via Flickr.
In late summer, the leaves of Betula ermanii start to turn yellow along the edges in anticipation of a burst of golden autumn color. : With apologies to poet Joyce Kilmer, we think that we shall never see another plant as lovely as a tree.