On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 06:43:36 +1000, Red wrote:

My Father-in-Law has become incapacitated due to health and I have been
nominated (By Him) as his weekly gardener as I'm cheaper than the ones you pay
for, lol. So I need to get this right.

He has a Weeping Silver Birch (What he called it) and googling tells me it most
probably is a Young's Weeping Silver Birch (Betula pendula Youngii)

It needs some tidying up and has a few dead branches that need removing, these
died after he attempted to prune it in the past, probably at the wrong time he
says.

I couple of searches indicate to me that pruning is to be done in the summer
when the sap has stopped flowing. Maybe I can remove the dead wood now without
upsetting the tree? Or does it look like waiting until next summer.

Does anyone have any comments they'd like to add or points correct me on?

Prune deciduous plants in winter, when they are dormant.

BTW, Birch are notorious for suffering from dieback, so it may not be your FIL's
fault that it has some dead branches on it.