Being married to one I know the earth shakes whenever a Hungarian starts talking. Yes, birch trees are sensitive to planting. I don't spead Romanian, but I have a Roman garden, with fig, olive and bay laurel. Please post pictures of trunk at the ground level.

Please excuse my written English. I have hard time with editing. I wait for picture of tree trunk at ground level....

I come to Romania soon. I have seventies disco suit and gold chains. Back in Bucharest, they call me Henry. My wife likes how I dance in Bucharest. Ahh well, fond memories...

Again, excuse my written English. My translator is way off today and there is a tear in my tinfoil. Gotta get back to the garden, waiting on that picture in the meantime, g'day...

my birch have not leafed out yet.. in my z5 ... and they are not transplanted ...

ken

mackel_in_dfw,

I'm not hungarian, I'm romanian. Maybe my name deceived you, but I'm nun and I don't have therefore a common romanian name.

I'm searching right now pictures with my birch trees.

ken,

Two of my birch trees are full of leaves.
I will post some pictures with them, to see them.

http://www.bitdevelopment.ro/amd/Birch_1.jpg
http://www.bitdevelopment.ro/amd/Birch_2.jpg
http://www.bitdevelopment.ro/amd/Birch_3.jpg
http://www.bitdevelopment.ro/amd/Birch_4.jpg

If you don't see them, please, open a new window and put there these links.

isidora - if your birches are seed grown they may well have different characteristics due to their genetic diversity. The key thing is whether the trees are alive or not. To find out try to bend a twig on one with no leaves. if the tree is dead the twig will snap. If it is alive the twig will bend. I would be patient and see how the trees develop. Water them well if the soil is dry.

p.s. I have no idea what mackel_in_dfw is talking about either, so don't worry about it. Good luck with your birches.

Ihave no idea what mackel_in_dfw is talking about either.

The question was- are birch trees sensitive to planting? I say, Yes. So is anyothertreebrit. You trying to be annoying or what? My people stood up for your people, invented the internet, and make up free website for your people to chitchat..man the nerve...

flora_uk,

I tried what you are telling me and the twig is bending. I think my birch trees are alive. But I'm not sure. That's why I'm asking you, guys.

mackel,

Nobody is trying to be annoying. Just joking to make life more pleasant.

if i recall the pix properly ..

beyond transplant .. they look very dry

they need some mulch to maintain soil moisture..

and if the wall receives a lot of sun ... you should consider trying to rig some shade.. as you may be cooking the parts above the ground ...

and based on that soil.. you might want to make a moat around each tree .. so when you do water.. you can pool it long enough.. that you insure that water can soak in through the entire roots zone.. not just superficially ...

the most important thing.. is water.. WHERE THE ROOTS ARE .. but with proper drainage ... and NEAR drying in between good deep soaks ...

i hope you can translate all that ...

good luck

ken

ps: as i was mowing yesterday.. i did find that my birch are just beginning to leaf out .. and do understand.. transplants do weird things .. since they can be out of phase .. and being a bit late to leaf out.. it NOT that out of the ordinary ... give them another month ... and insure proper watering ...

ken,

I understand all you say to me. Thank you very much for advices.

The wall is not a problem. The trees are 1,20 meters far from it and that wall doesn't warm. I will make a moat around each tree, didn't have until now as I was very busy with other problems in my garden.

I understand: entire roots zone needs water. And mulch to maintain soil moisture. Ok.

I will wait another month, no problem. Hope come here with good news.

The simple answer is yes. The more complicated answer is not that they are sensitive to planting but that they are difficult or at least hard to leaf out. There is a process called sweating that artificially raises the temperature and humidity on small and usually bareroot trees to help them get going. Since your trees are already planted,just help them with water. A light dose of fertilizer with higher nitrogen wouldn't hurt, but it may be a little early yet.

I've seen birch branches die completely and grow from the trunk anew and flourish afterwards, so you've got little to worry about at this time.

Where I am, the papers have been in leaf for a few weeks but the rivers haven't broken but yet.

In my country, everything is green now. All kind of trees have leaves, or at least buds. In my garden, which is mainly of medicinal herbs, I have birch (Betula pendula), silver linden (Tilia tomentosa) and sycamore maple (Acer pseudo-platanus). And a Cedrus deodara.

I bought these trees from different sources. I bought silver linden and sycamore maple from same source and they all look very fine, full of buds and leaves. They came from Bucharest, which is 60 km far from me.

In turn, I purchase birch trees from other source, 600 km north far from me. Maybe, they changed the entire environment: air, type of water, soil, humidity etc. From forest region to plain, where I live.

Those from 600 KM north may be adapted to a later arrival of springtime. That is, if they are native to that region. If so, a later bud-break would be expected.

+oM