Under planting a birch tree

[veneeroftheyear]

We have a multi stemmed silver birch and I'm looking for ideas for what to plant underneath for summer interest. We did have a dogwood which was just too big and meant we couldn't see the stems. Would prefer something low lying. Any ideas?

Hosta. We had a birch underplanted with Hosta until the birch grew too large and we took it down. It was a very good combination.

Good post! I've got a fairly new multistem Burch and was wondering how I'd need to change the planting around it.

How high up the trunk does your birch divide? Mine is very low down and, as quite an immature tree, it is more like a shrub (eg Cornus) than a tree if that makes sense.

At the moment I've got low herbaceous plants in that area which I'm hoping will be fine - ferns, epimediums, alliums, hellebore, geraniums.

Argh - birch obviously, not Burch (whatever that is).

Mine divides really low too. I'd post a picture but it's currently the repository for all my old pots, which were hidden by the dogwood which I've now moved. Hostas sound like a good idea - although I'm sure they'll be decimated by the snails which are dreadful. Worth a try though.

And you have reminded me that I have a fern that needs relocating so that's a good idea.

I have some shuttlecock ferns in the opposite bed - they'd look nice with birch in the spring. Pointless for me to grow hostas unless they are in pots - just a free salad bar for the snails