Question about fertilizing River Birch

Hubby and I purchased a ball & burlap River Birch this year - planted it March 1. It was on sale at the nursery due to the fact that it had been there for a year. The size of the tree is approximately 18-19 feet high. It leafed out early spring but the leaf production is not as heavy as I think it should be. DH says that next year the leaf production should be better- once the roots get established. I know that you are not suppose to fertilize newly planted trees for the first year but would a tree of this size make a difference in the fertilization schedule? ( and the fact that the roots have been bound in burlap for over a year) I'm thinking that maybe we should have included root stimulator in the hole. Suggestions? Maybe I need to take a chill pill and stop worrying so much about it. hehehe

Root stimulators are a waste of time and money, so you did fine not using them.

The general consensus these days is to not fertilize newly planted trees. However, with River Birches chlorosis due to high pH soil and insufficient iron or magnesium is often a problem. If inspection shows leaves that are yellow with green veins, then you might want to apply a low nitrogen fertilizer that includes micronutrients (iron and magnesium, among other elements).

Scott

thanks Scott. We do have some yellow leaves though they are too high up for me to check for green veins. I thought that maybe the yellowing was due to a very wet ground - we have had a rainy spring. ( the clay soil hold the moisture for a long time)
If that's the case, doesn't a lot of rain leech away the nutrients in the ground? So, a low nitogen fertilizer will help in either case?

Try a mychorizzae root treatment. It is a fungus that fosters root development. It is not a fertilizer. Gardener's Supply sells some for newly transplanted trees and treehelp.com also sells supposedly tailored mychorizzae for individual tree species. I had a tree service inject the roots of our mature trees and shrubs last fall and it has had a noticable effect. No fertilizer was applied and the trees and shrubs look really really good this year so far. I think the stuff works. I am using the Gardener's Supply stuff this year on new transplants. I havn't bought from treehelp.com but the sight looked interesting.

Thanks snapple - TreeHelp Mycorrhizal Treatment for Birch may do the trick for me. I agree that the treehelp.com site is interesting. I like how they have targeted information for each tree species. Is this a treatment that should be applied in the fall, as you did?
Liz

Did you test your soil pH? River birch needs moist, acidic soil, which can be addressed very inexpensively with granulated soil sulfur and a garden hose.

Guy S.

Thanks guy. I have been meaning to have my soil tested for some time now - it will be interesting to see the results. Liz

My understanding of the mychorizzae root treatment is do it at initial planting or use a drill or probe to get down to the feeder roots anytime. Watering after application and keeping the area moist for a week or so is also important so I am told. I used a tree service because of one bad hip, two bad knees and one bad back between my hubby and myself! Rare are the days when we both function on all joints at the same time. :) Plus the oaks we have are humongous and the other trees and shrubs were too numerous to count. I thought the cost ($425) wasn't too terribly bad considering what they had to cover in terms of plant material. It took two guys three hours to cover everything. So far, and this is pretty early in the evaluation, we are very satisfied. We have lived here for 32 yrs and are pretty familiar with the growth rate of what we have and can definitely see a noticable robustness the landscape, in spite of an ugly spring drought. We had less than an inch of rain in all of April. March wasn't much better. We had our first good rain last night, long overdue.