Guest Columnist
River Birch (Betula nigra) is a medium to large sized tree that has a lot going for it. It has a 40-60' height with a 20-30' width in a pyramid shape, although in the wild, height and width might be somewhat higher. It has high heat tolerance with low water usage and low soil requirements. Texas A&M rates a 10 on a 1-10 scale on its earth-kind index, which is as good as it gets! One of its few demands is strong sunlight.
River Birch is native from eastern Oklahoma and Texas to the east coast north to Pennsylvania, although found as far north as New Hampshire and as far upper west as Minnesota. For those who don't like acorns, this tree has tiny, three-winged seeds that drop in the fall. The bark goes through three stages, starting out as smooth on young trees. As the tree grows, the bark develops papery scales that can be peeled off. In maturity, the bark develops coarse scales. The distinctive bark makes it well liked as an ornamental tree for landscape use in residential homes.
River Birch flowers appear in the spring and are also distinctive in that female flowers are erect, while male flowers droop. Native habitat is wet ground, but it will grow on higher land. Somewhat ironically, even though it prefers wet soils, River Birch has relatively low tolerance for flooding. Cultivars have been developed that have white bark as opposed to the normally much darker bark. Some like to plant these cultivars as shade trees around gardens with shade loving plants.
Uses for the wood are many and diverse, including inexpensive furniture, basket hoops, and turned articles. Wood strength makes it good for making artificial limbs and children's toys. River Birch is a tree well suited for your lawns.
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