Birch tree borer

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Jnette Northeast, WA(Zone 5a) Jul 01, 2009

There are a lot of birch trees in my area and they all seem to die from the top down. That is why they are called "widow makers". When guys go to cut them the tops fall out and down and kill whoever is cutting the tree. They can't hear the falling top because of the saw they are using.

I have a very nice clump of birch near the house that I would love to have get big and not let this happen. Any suggestions? I have been told they are borers and nothing can be done about them. I can count a half a dozen right from my deck that are dead.

Jeanette

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greatswede Lincoln, CA(Zone 9b) Jul 03, 2009

There are various varieties of Birch trees and some have better borer resistance than others.

Birch trees should never be pruned during the growing season. That encourages borers. I know... I found out the hard way by topping a Birch tree 25 years ago. I soon found sawdust at the base of the tree and a horizontal hole in the trunk. My nursery recommended a nematode injection into the hole. That seemed to work as I didn't have problems after that. I don't know what I was thinking when I topped the tree to start with.

Mine was a Betula pendula, very low borer resistance. Beautiful tree though!

In our new house, I have three Betula jacquemontii. Not as attractive as the pendula but higher borer resistance.

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