In article m,
wheator wrote:


The soil is heavy clay type and the tree itself is surrounded by
shrubs,
all of which seem to be doing ok.


How close are the shrubs? My young birches didn't respond well to have
the grass line too close when trying to establish. As soon as I widened
it they prospered nicely. I don't think birches appreciate competition
for water early on, and generally I don't think underplanting is
recommended.

--
"Noah's Ark is a problem...We'll have to call
it early quantum state phenomenon--
Only way to fit five-thousand
species of mammal on the same boat"