Recently planted silver birch - definitely not flourishing..

[Snowsmash]

Hello,

About 2 months ago, I had three silver birch (established c12ft, 8-10cm) planted in my garden by a gardener. I ended up moving one of them myself to a different position about a week later - ensured hole was big enough, watered it thoroughly, kept watering during the heat, gave it some food etc. however, it is definitely not thriving, particularly when you compare it to the other two (pics attached). Can anyone help suggest what I can do- i can’t get my head around whether it’s over watered, underwatered, stressed and dying.. and what I need to do to get it to where the other are.

i did speak to my gardener who suggested water, food and then just seeing how it went but I don’t want to keep bothering her given I moved the bloody thing!

any further advice much appreciated!
thank you

How much water are you giving it? I planted some new trees a few years ago in a dry spring and it was 2 very large watering cans of water every night for months till it started raining properly again. Even then the next year I kept on top of the watering.

A lot more water I think - as long as the ground isn't left sodden I don't think it'll do any harm. I'd also probably clear a bit more of the grass so an already stressed tree isn't competing with it...and water well and put some home made compost or whatever you have down around it too, it's been really dry - so you'll need to keep on top of the watering.

I can see roots on the soil surface. It isn't planted deep enough and needs more soil on top of the rootball.i would take it out and plant in 10cm deeper.

When you moved it yourself, you probably damaged a lot of the small roots as it would be very hard to move the whole rootball and soil, it would have been very heavy.

So yes it’s very stressed and maybe dying. It’s very unlikely to be too much water, birches like water.

However all 3 trees will be under stress because you have grass growing too near them which is competing for food and water.

So Id carefully remove the grass from the area around the trees for 1 meter diameter and keep it like that for 3 years. You will need to hand weed it now (or the appropriate weed killer, if you use them ) and then mulch with bark or stones ( or is that a coir mulch you have applied? ) .

Please check that you have applied the tree tie correctly and check them regularly as the trees grow. The one on the moved tree doesn’t look right.

This is all such helpful advice- really appreciate it & thank you. I haven’t been giving it nearly that much water so I will start to do that today. I will also clear grass from around all three (& YouTube the tie).

Ahh, posted too soon. Given its sad and shrivelled current state, and that I haven’t been watering it enough, would there be any value in digging it back up again and planting it deeper right now? I worry it would finish the poor tree off!

No don’t dig it up, you are right , it will finish it off.

Remove the grass with a hand trowel and mulch. Water ALL the trees at least 2 large cans every nights. Id do 4 cans or use a hose on a low flow rate - it’s been very hot and dry for weeks where I live. Wind also dries them out

Did you use a soil based compost to plant them ?

I’m scared to ask how much you have actually been watering them ?

As a pp says, it isn't deep enough, and if planted like that, it will rock in the slightest wind and any new roots won't be able to anchor in the soil, they will just get damaged.

Give it at least two watering cans full of water every day from now until the autumn, and don't feed it. Plants cannot make use of nutrients if they don't have a good root system. I would also suggest giving it a top dressing around a metre square of composted bark around the tree, and about 6 inches deep. That will protect those roots, and also help to prevent the soil drying out.

When you replanted it, did you firm the soil in layers as you put it in, to avoid air pockets around the roots?

it is planted a bit shallow but digging up again isn’t really viable. Plenty of water and a good thick mulch to conserve the moisture and keep the roots cool. Leave a small space between the mulch and the trunk.

Thank you so much everyone. Have cleared around the trees and will get some mulch in later today to put on top. And then water, water water. Fingers crossed!! 🤞🤞🤞🤞

And when you cut the grass near the trees , don’t use a strimmer. If you damage the bark, that make them even weaker. They need to be cosseted until they are established. .

How are your trees @Snowsmash ? Did they make it or is it RIP?

I would have expected a gardener to know that trees need to be planted during the dormant season - November through until March. They were probably planted a bit late in the year which won't have helped.

So it was planted - and moved - in Spring, in the middle of a dry period? I’m not surprised it isn’t doing better. Make sure you water it a lot - at least three times a week (depending on sun/heat/rain/drought) and at least 50 litres per time and it might make it through to Winter. I would have thought it really will need a lot of water now.

Ahh thanks for the check in. It was just the one I moved that wasn’t flourishing.
The other two are thriving!

Sadly despite changing the stake tie, mulch 1m around the bottom after weeding (all the brill advice on here) watering in the morning, and in the evening with a good glug (at least 8L) it has become even more shrivelled and (probably) beyond deaths door. I even thought I had perhaps over watered it to death.

I sorry to hear that, RIP tree. However I can assure you that 8l is not too much for a tree planted in a lawn , let alone a birch . They can live happily in very boggy ground . So whatever has killed it, it’s not been over watering.