Spring Tree Purchase

[TKO_PUNCH]

Hi all,

I am wanting to plant some white birch this spring, but am having a hard time finding some to order. I live in Sherburne county and the 2008 tree order only has river birch. I tried the dnr HSOforum and they say the white birch (paper birch) are all sold out.

Any ideas on where to purchase 25-50 trees at a reasonable price?

Also, what is better quaking aspen or hybrid popular? I planted a lot (around 200) of norway pines back in 2002 as a border to my property. They are now 5-8' tall and I want to add some other trees to compliment them.

Thanks in advance~

[JayinMN]

Paint Creek Nursery sells 12-36" white birch for $2.00 and 4-6' for $5.00. Another nursery I have been looking at is Cold Stream Farm. They have a variety of sizes starting from 6-12" at .88 each if you buy atleast 25. I don't think I can post their links because its against board policy so if you do a web search you should find them.

[Powerstroke]

If you're going for appearance, I would definitely get the quaking aspen. The hybrid poplar was created for fast growth, not good looks. Its tends to be thin with lots of branches. Paper companies love it because of the large amount of pulp it creates.

Also check with the local Soil and Water Conservation district.

[TKO_PUNCH]

I've read that the river birch is starting to replace the paper birch for the landscaping tree. Anyone else have thoughts on this? I was thinking the paper birch because of the nice white appearance, but maybe something else along with the quaking aspen would be a better choice.

[TKO_PUNCH]

Jay,

Cold Stream Farm looks really good. I'm going to place an order with them. I'll post in the spring when the trees arrive on how their appearance and shipping conditions are.

[sparcebag]

Ya may try yellow birch as there gettin scarce around here,paper birch is for me anyway hard to grow.

[fishingforester]

TKO-

A little more on your first question: Decision between the aspen and hybrid poplar will depend on how you intend to use the trees, and what the desired longevity is. The hybrids grow very fast, but are more prone to breakage; making them good for screening or (almost) instant shade, but I wouldn't put one right next to the house or in an area of the yard that commonly has person or property beneath. The quaking aspen are nicer looking and longer lived, although not long lived by tree standards.

On to the birches...The river birch is more popular in most landscape settings nowadays because it can handle stresses (especially in urban areas), such as drought and large swings in soil temperature. It is also fairly resistant to the bronze birch borer, which is an insect that commonly attacks the paper birches after they become stressed by other environmental factors. That being said, paper birches CAN do well in a landscape setting. Cultural practices such as proper watering and mulching the root zone make a huge difference in the survivability of any tree, but especially important on more sensitive species.

[TKO_PUNCH]

Thanks fishingforester,

The paper birches will be placed in a landscaped setting with adequent amounts of water. With your help on the aspen and poplar, that helps me make my decision. I will put the aspen up in the front yard and plant the poplar in the back for nice screen trees.

I just received the Isanti tree program order form in the paper today, so I'll order the bundles of poplar through them.

Thank you to all for the help.

[reelemin]

My vote is the River Birch. Its a beautiful tree with wonderful, texture with the bark. Also much hardier then the white birch.

[Wormdrowner]

I'd second Reelemin on the River Birch. I planted some 10 years ago from small nursery stock. They grow extremely fast once established, they do however like moist conditions. They are beautiful trees growing in clumps of three or four, the outside bark peels away exposing the bronze bark underneath. I have to prune the bottom branches yearly so I don't knock myself off my rider. I think it's one of the nicest looking trees around.

[fishermatt]

I've been buying trees from Cold Stream Farm for about 4 years now, and they are pretty good. I like that I can get larger trees from them than I could get from our Soil and Water district. If you order from them, make sure they know you are in MN and that the frost goes out later here than other places. The first year they delivered my trees (beautiful 1-2 foot white pines) but we still had frost in the ground so I couldn't plant them right away. I'll be buying some more trees from them this year.