Silver birch -can it go here?

I have a small garden on an estate. I ‘rescued’ this silver birch about three years ago from between two flagstones and, being my favourite type of tree, am keen to plant it in my garden. It is about three foot high at the min. If I plant it in my garden, about 6m from the house, is that an ok place to put it? I’m taking out a Sambucus nigra which I’ve had for a good number of years which always gets too big for my garden. I love it, but am willing to sacrifice it. I also have another tree question on here... the birch will be planted about 3m away from it... hope that makes sense. :-))

 

Hi Markymark

I've seen birch trees closer than six metres and they never look good. A six meter minimum is a good start, but if you can get it back further then that would be better. Birch trees are a fast growing pioneer species that can easily block sunlight and interfere with drains and windows etc. Their roots can often appear on the surface too ,sometimes leading to them getting damaged. Formative pruning should help in keeping the tree under control so there's no need for abrupt limb removal later on in the tree's life.

TL;DR - It'll be fine, just as long as you keep an eye on it.

 

You’ve put me off ha ha. I’ll take it to school and plant it there lol. I did that with another one I had about ten years ago... and now it looks great in the school grounds. Thanks :-))))