Okay, theres a white birch tree in my front yard, that hasnt been doing
well for the last couple of years, it gets eaten by bugs every year. My
dad is going to chop it down, and pull out the stump. Is there any way I
can take a cutting from this plant? or what?

Any ideas on what I can do?

Paper birch is an understory plant; when planted in people's front
yards, it doesn't get enough protection from frost in winter. It
becomes stressed, and begins to emit volatile stress metabolites that
insects can smell. The insects (notably the birch borer beetle) then
attack the tree, and all the combined stress kills it. Other species
of birch are better suited as specimen plants.

But that's just information for other people with birches in their
front yards. To answer your question: Birches are generally grafted
or grown from seed; maybe Brent knows more. But I can say this much:

1) most birches are fast-growing, so you can buy nursery stock and
grow up a bonsai in no time.

2) birches are short-lived and subject to stress and a lot of
diseases (as you already know). They are not particularly good
subjects for bonsai (although I've seen a few nice ones).
--
Nina Shishkoff

Frederick, MD

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