Seeking A Silver Birch

themanfromvolantis

Hello there. Its my dad's 70th in July and I was going to get him a silver birch tree. I wanted something that's reasonably tall already. Can anyone reccommend a retailer where they sell them?

I have had a quick look online but Google is rather less useful than it used to be and I don't really know a good specimen from a poor one. 

I don't mind paying a bit extra for something decent. In my head, I'm picturing something around 8ft high but I don't know if that's realistic to be delivered or whether I should settle for something smaller. 

Any help appreciated. Sorry if my post breaks any forum rules. Feel free to message me instead if you prefer. 

Also, is that a decent 70th gift? He has said he wanted one in the past. 

K67

I have used this company, always arrived safely 
https://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/products/betula-pendula-silver-birch-tree?_pos=1&_sid=7788cb6b4&_ss=r

Silver surfer

Super idea for a 70th birthday .
Smaller will establisher more quickly .
Try Bluebell nursery.
Also check out many of the named special wonderful Betula...birch trees that are now available. Betula pendula is not the best any more for a small garden.

https://www.bluebellnursery.com/102-Betula

Or visit any good garden centre and chose the exact specimen you like/want...size, bark, shape etc.

Many will have been grown by excellent expert tree grower Frank Matthews.UK...link has 3 pages.

https://www.frankpmatthews.com/catalogue/betula

gjautos

Buckingham nursery are good for trees and hedging. They seem to deliver fairly promptly too. Sorry no idea how i post a link though!

themanfromvolantis

Thanks both. 

themanfromvolantis

I just visited the website of Frank Mathews. He is based in Tenbury Wells which is reasonably close to where I live. Cheers. 

Wilderbeast

@themanfromvolantis just as a guide we planted a tiny 2ft sapling 2 years ago and it's now 10ft tall. We've been amazed at the speed of growth. It's a betula jacqumontii (spellings were never my strong point) 

themanfromvolantis

Wow that's some great growth. That helps. Cheers

Kili

themanfromvolantis said:

Wow that's some great growth. That helps. Cheers

Be prepared for it to get big. I took 3 down which had grown to over 35 feet in height in my small garden ( They were there when I bought the house). 

pansyface

Speaking as a 70 year old, don’t worry too much about “ultimate height”.

Unless your family is full of centenarians. 😂

(Sorry if that’s too gloomy for a birthday idea.😁)

I’m planting biennials these days and wondering.....🤔

Suesyn

We have had trees from mail order trees and they have been excellent, well packaged and swift delivery. We bought 3 jacmontii, about 2m tall 5 years ago and now they are about 5m tall.