Thursday, 8:30 AM. 14 degrees, wind W, calm. A light snow is falling, obscuring the Island.It was a quiet walk, people seem to be in a hunkered down mood, economy and weather I suppose. Neighbor Erick caught five whitefish out near the south channel yesterday, and he just drove by with pickup and ATV to try his luck again. Take your compass and GPS, Erick!
Winter is a good time to see bark and other tree characteristics often obscured by foliage. The two trees pictured are of course the paper birch, Betula papyrifiera that everyone knows and loves, and the less well known river birch, Betula nigra, which is a more southern species but perfectly hardy north. Paper birch is very prone to insect and disease problems, particularly the bronze birch borer, which usually ends up disfiguring and killing most of those trees used in the landscape. Unless one knows and accepts the limitations of the paper birch, one will be very disappointed. The river birch, on the other hand, is very resistant to the borer and much easier to grow. It also has very attractive yellowish papery bark when young, although by the time it is fully grown it has lost that decorative characteristic. On the whole, river birch is a much better tree for landscape use, and is hardy enough to use as a street tree. If planted, paper birch should be used as background trees, preferably as a mass planting where they can be watered and never mowed under. Often landscape architects will use these trees as accents for large buildings and in other ways in which they are bound to fail, so beware!
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